


The Snogging Game

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-12
Updated: 2008-02-14
Packaged: 2019-01-19 13:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12411615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: James/Lily, Seventh Year.  With only one year left to gain Lily's affection, James comes up with a perfectly scandalous game in which the only thing higher than the stakes are the consequences.





	1. Making a Deal with Devils

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Author's Note:**   I'm finally trying my hand at something a bit longer than a one-shot, but I'm not quite certain if this one will stick.  I like reviews/advice, so lots of those will help me along quite nicely.

**"And I believe**

**That this may call for a proper introduction, and well,**

**Don't you see?**

**I'm the narrator, and this just the prologue**

**Swear to shake it up if you swear to listen**

**Oh we're still so young**

**Desperate for attention**

**And I aim to be your eyes**

**Trophy boys, trophy wives"**

-Panic! At the Disco

**Chapter 1: Making a Deal with Devils**

The Rules of The Game:

  
1.Teams shall be composed of three members.

 

2\. Each member must snog fifty people, the first team to complete this condition winning The Game, and therefore, earning the previously agreed upon rewards.

 

3.Partners must be of the opposite gender.

 

4.No snogging partner may be under the age of fifteen; however, partners are not limited to Hogwarts students.

 

5.Any use of charms/potions/magic in general to gain the consent of a snog from a formerly unwilling partner is prohibited.  Lying, however, is encouraged.

 

6.No participating members may quit early.  Quitting is surrender, and therefore, a loss to your team.

 

7.Due to the illness of certain team member (Remus Lupin) of the male team, a fourth party (Peter Pettigrew) will be responsible for half of said team member’s points.

 

8.Each snogging session must last for a minimum of seven minutes.

 

9.Each snog is worth one point, and will be magically tallied into your individual total.

 

10\. The game is to remain strictly confidential.  Breaking the secrecy will cause each member of the offending member’s team to lose five points.

 

11\. Bonus points can be awarded by snogging professors, however, please see rule number two.

 

12\. **Should the females win:** one James Potter will immediately leave Lily Evans alone for the remainder of their natural born lives.  Sirius Black and Remus Lupin/Peter Pettigrew will then owe Cassandra Owens and Adella Cortez 20 gallons, plus ten hours of service, to be used at their own discretion.

 

**Should the males win:**   Lily Evans will immediately date James Potter  for a month and a half.  Cassandra Owens and Adella Cortez will then owe Sirius Black and Remus Lupin/Peter Pettigrew 20 gallons, plus ten hours of service, to be used at their own discretion.  


        Signing below entails that you have read and are willing to comply with the above terms.

*~*  
 

        Lily Evans hesitated, skimming over the scroll in front of her.  She felt very much like she was signing her soul over to the devil.

        In many ways, she was.

        This game, which would undoubtedly raise a couple of eyebrows, was a gamble.  There was no denying that.  Should she lose, she’d be James Potter’s girlfriend.

        She shuddered.  It had been something she had spent the past two years of her life carefully avoiding.

        But it was worth it.  She would forever escape the boy that caused her to be boyfriend less and allow her to act like any other seventeen-year-old girl that was not Potter’s object of affection.

  
        Yes, the potential benefits were endless.  Of course, obtaining victory was necessary first.  She allowed her mind to wander to the day when she had agreed to this outlandish proposal, still slightly surprised that she had agreed to it in the first place.

 

*~* 

 

        The idea had surprisingly enough been Potter’s himself.

        The day had started out ordinary enough.  It was September 1, the day they were to go to King’s Cross and depart for Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express.

        Yet, this year was different.  It was their final year at Hogwarts, and Lily now had a shiny new Head Girl badge that entailed all kinds of new responsibilities, ones that she was not so sure she wanted.

        The main being that she had to work closely with the Head Boy, who naturally was James Potter.  After all, why wouldn’t fate play this kind of cosmic joke on her?

        The year started out identically to the two previous ones.

        Lily had just met up with her best mates, Adella Cortez and Cassandra Owens.  Moments later, they ran into James Potter and his best mates, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

        Naturally, the first words out of James’ mouth were: “Evans, I think we need to date.”

        “I’d much rather throw myself in front of a rabid dragon, Potter,” she said flatly, turning to leave with her friends to their compartment.  She really did not need this to be her first interaction of her seventh year.  It was just such a bad omen.

        “Oh, come off it, Evans.  Just a couple of dates, some snogging, not a big deal-“

        “For Merlin’s sake Potter!  I’d snog any boy in Hogwarts before I’d snog you!”

        “Funny you mention that, Evans,”  Black chimed in smoothly.  He had a smirk that could only be described as suave.  There really was no denying his good looks.  Sadly, his personality lacked greatly.

        “Stay out of it, Black,”  Adella Cortez cut in sharply.  “Just let Lily turn down Potter and then we can all go our separate ways.”  Lily smiled at her blonde friend.  Adella had never been too keen on Black, and therefore didn’t let his good looks intimidate her, if only because she was probably the prettiest girl in their year.

        “Easy, Cortez.  I was simply encouraging my dear friend James to announce the carefully constructed plan we came up with over the summer.”

        There was a beat of silence, in which the boys exchanged knowing looks, while the girls shared a nervous glance.

        “Make it quick, Potter,” Cassandra Owens said flatly.

        James smiled, clearly enjoying the attention.  “Ladies, it’s a game.  A very simple game, in which you ladies will compete with us blokes in a race to snog fifty people each as quickly as possible.  If you win,” he said, motioning to Lily, “I leave you alone.  If I win, you become my girlfriend for a month and a half.”

        “What’s the catch?”  Lily asked, raising a suspicious brow.

        “No catch.  I swear, this is it, Evans.”

 

        The girls conferred with a simple glance around at one another. 

 

        “We need a moment,” Lily said, reading the hesitation on her friends’ faces.

 

        “Take all the time you need,” Potter replied, giving her a condescending smile.  Oh, she hated him.  She had no doubt as to that.

 

        The girls left the boys’ compartment and walked into the first empty one.

 

        “Lily, as one of your best friends, I cannot allow you to accept this bet,” Cassandra said immediately, giving Lily a concerned look.  “You have absolutely nothing to gain-“

 

        “Except everything,” Adella cut in, smiling mischeviously.  “Allow me to recap, eh?  Lily has not been on a single date since the age of fourteen.  The reason, as we all know, is James Potter.  He curses, hexes, hell I think he’d even poison, any bloke that tries to get near Lily.”

 

        “You’re overreacting,” Cassandra said, slightly annoyed.

 

        “Need I remind you of Trey Phillips?”

 

        Lily and Cassandra cringed.  Trey and Lily had  attempted a secret romance the year before.  Long story short, somehow the Marauders found out, and Trey had spent most of the month of April in the hospital wing.

 

        “She has a point,” Lily said, frowing slightly.  “But I’m asking a lot of the pair of you.  This isn’t just about me.  This is definitely one of those ‘You jump, I jump’ kind of deals.  So what do you think?” she asked, glancing at her friends.

 

        “Naturally, I’m in,” Adella answered, after a few moments of silence.  “I mean, let’s face it.  I’ve been Hogwart's resident  slut since fourth year.  It’s not like you're asking for that much.  Plus, I’ve never wanted to out-whore Black more before in my entire life,” she smiled, wickedly.  “I’m definitely in, Lils.”

 

        Smiling at her friend, Lily then turned to Cassandra.  “I’d understand, totally, if you don’t want to do this.  Especially with Gavin and all-“

 

        “He has nothing to do with this, we broke up nearly two months ago,” Cassandra cut her off, almost angrily.  “And trust me, he’s moved on, and so all that’s left now if for me to do the same.”  She stopped considereing this for a moment.  “Besides, it would make him pretty damn angry, you know, seeing me snogging a different boy every night…”  she broke off, looking almost dreamy.  “Oh this will be good.  It’s the perfect revenge for that cheating son of a-“

 

        “Almost ready, girls?”  Peter Petigrew stuck his head into their compartment, looking slightly nervous at the three girls.

 

        “One more minute,” Lily said, looking at Adella’s and Cassandra’s determined faces.

 

        “So you two are in?” she asked, after she was sure he was gone.

 

        “Oh, we’re in,”  Cassandra reassured her.

 

        “The let’s go announce it to the boys.  They’re going to be shocked.  I’d be willing to bet they thought we’d refuse.”

 

        As they entered the boys’ compartment, the three girls kept their faces devoid of emotion.

 

        “You in?”  James asked, looking apprehensive.

 

         “Oh, we’re in,” Lily said, echoing Cassandra’s words from before. 

 

*~*

  
        They had spent the majority of the remaining time on the train hashing out the details, until a rough outline of rules had been reached.  Remus Lupin had put together a written set of rules and passed them out to the seven participating members two days later.  All that was left for Lily was to simply sign the document, and then she could begin working on her Potter-less existence.  


        There was really no need to hesitate.  Grabbing the nearest quill, she quickly signed the document, and then smoothly walked over to where the boys sat in the common room.

      “Let’s get this thing started,” she said coolly.

      And with that, a scandalous game in which lives would be forever changed kicked off.

 


	2. Ending the Silence

**The sounds of this small town make my ears hurt**

**  
Oh yeah, you caught me.**

**But I caught you one worse**

****

They say, "You want a war? You've got a war."

****

But who are you fighting for?     

****-Fall Out Boy

**Chapter 2:**   Ending the Silence

 It had been officially two weeks into the start of the game, and the tally sheets that were posted on the back of the doors on both the boys and girls’ dormitories remained blank.

            Not a single column had a mark in it, which could only really mean one thing:  in a game that was all about snogging, no one had made the first move to get the ball rolling.

            “This is pathetic, mates.”  Sirius Black stated flatly to the boys as they sat in a tight circle in the common room.  “It’s been two weeks.  Two weeks.  And none of us have gotten even a second’s worth of lip action.  What’s the deal?”

            “I can’t work under this pressure,” Peter Pettigrew mumbled, rubbing his temple.

            “You couldn’t work even when there wasn’t pressure, Petey,” James said somewhat light-heartedly, shoving Peter good-naturedly in the shoulder.

            “At least I haven’t mooned over the same girl for half my life,” came Peter’s sullen response.

            “Yeah, what’s going on with you, James?”  Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at James.  “This is your last shot, remember?  I would have thought you would have snogged the entire female population on the first day, let alone allowing two weeks to elapse without even so much as a peck on the cheek.”

            James ruffled his hair, shooting a look at Lily and her friends, sitting across the room.

            “I suppose I have a bit of cold feet.  It does seem somewhat, I don’t know, immoral, don’t you think?”

            “You are bloody joking, right?”  Sirius stated, looking almost repulsed.  “I know you didn’t spend the entire summer working out the creases in this plan to decide it’s too immoral to follow through with.”

            “It is immoral, Sirius, even you must admit it,” Remus interjected.

            “Screw morals, James.  How long have you wanted Lily Evans?”

            “Since third year,”  James answered miserably.

            “Then what the bloody hell are you waiting for?  Go snog some girl senseless!”  He said excitedly, standing up.

            Remus and James locked eyes for a moment, both seeming to grapple with their consciences.  After a beat of silence, Remus nodded, appearing to give his approval.

            James sighed.  “It’s really just a matter of timing,” he said at long last.  “Let them make the first move.  Trust me, from experience; it won’t be hard for us to win.  We’re the Marauder’s aren’t we?”

            Sirius and Peter both nodded enthusiastically, but Remus remained silent.

            There was just something about the girls’ behavior on the other side of the room that he didn’t quite trust.

~*~

            Remus wasn’t wrong to not trust the girls.  They too had discussed strategy, speculating the boys’ motives, lying low long enough to keep the boys guessing.

            They had long ago thrown their cautions to the wind.  Their was no conscience grappling among the girls.

            Much like the boys, they were in this to give one of their best friends their dream come true.  Lily Evans would be free James Potter before seventh year was over if they had any say in it.

            “Tonight,”  Cassandra Owens whispered, shooting Adella Cortez a meaningful look.

            “Tonight?  I don’t know, I thought we were going to wait a bit longer-“

            “I don’t like the way their acting.  We need to shut them up, make them take action,”  Lily said, inclining her head to the boys as Sirius Black stood up enthusiastically.

            “And you still want me to lead off?”  Adella asked, eyes flickering around the common room.  “I still say it makes more sense for Lily to get this thing started.  It would make a big statement to Potter-“

            “No, it has to be you, Della,”  Lily said patiently.  They had been over this thousands of times, but her blond friend still seemed to be doubting their course of action.  “You’re the most…”

            “Slutty,”  Adella supplied.

            “You said it, not me,” Lily said, laughing softly.  “Don’t worry though, I’m not going to leave you hanging out to dry.  I’ve already got my first ten lined up!”

            “And I’ve got my first twenty!”  Cassandra said, eyes dancing with laughter.

            “As long as none of those twenty are named Gavin Thompson, I don’t really care how many you have lined up,”  Adella cut in sharply.

            “Hey now-“

            “You can understand my concern, about both of you,”  Adella stated flatly, addressing Lily as well.  “You,” she inclinded her head to Cassandra, “are a serial monogamous.  Since we were twelve years old and got over the whole cootie thing you have always had a boyfriend, and you were with Gavin for nearly two years before the split over the summer,”  she softened, touching her friend’s arm sympathetically.  “I just don’t want one of these very casual snogs to turn into the next boyfriend.  Because you getting a new boyfriend before this game’s over translates to the pair of us owing Potter’s lackies twenty galleons and our precious time.”

            Cassandra sat motionless.  Adella was speaking the truth.  Unfortunately, that didn’t make what had been said any less acutely painful.

            “And you,” she said, turning to Lily, “have the experience in the “Love ‘em and leave ‘em" department of an eleven year old.  And I can’t help but worry that your morality is going to be a bit of a hindrance.  I’m worried your eyes are going to leave the prize, which is sort of why we’re in this thing,”  Adella finished, raising an eyebrow at Lily cautiously.

            The three sat in silence, taking in the shift of the mood.

            “You don’t need to worry, Dell.  About either of us,”  Lily finally said.  “Trust me, my eyes are very firmly planted on the prize, and with some encouragement, Cass will be as whore-ish as you need her to be.”

            “Promise?”  Adella said bluntly.  “Because if I go snog some random sixth year right now, I want to know it wasn’t all in vain.”

            “I swear.  So go get him,” Lily said, smiling at her friend.

            “Cass, are you sure you can handle this?”  Adella asked, looking concerned at Cassandra.  She looked extremely vulnerable all of a sudden.

            “I am not losing to the likes of Peter Pettigrew.  I highly doubt he's even had his first kiss yet," she said, breaking out into a grin.  "Trust me, commitment is the very last thing on my mind right now,” she answered finally, looking positiviely vicious.

            “All right.  Watch and learn, you two,”  Adella said, smiling wickedly.  She pulled a compact out of her bag, smoothing out her blonde locks, which were perfectly curled at the end.  Next she applied a coat of cherry lip gloss to her lips, smiling at her appearance.

            Winking at Lily and Cassandra, Adella walked flirtatiously up to Robby Knowles, a Gryffindor sixth year who she had decided last night would be her first snog of the game.  He was extremely good looking, with dark blonde hair and a strong jaw line.  He was also the sixth year equivalent to Sirius Black, and a star chaser to boot.

            In short, he was perfect.  

            “Long time no see, Robby,”  Adella purred as she approached him.  He was surrounded by his friend, all of whom were gazing at him with utmost respect.

            “Adella,” he inclined his head to her, smiling at the seventh year’s attention.

            “I though about you a lot this summer.  About how I knew you’d grow up from a little boy into a strong man,”  she continued, placing her hand on his bicep and drawing lazy circles along the defined muscles.  She wasn’t lying; the boy was definitely more mature than when they had departed last June.

            “Well I worked out a great deal this summer, you know, with Potter as captain this year, I wanted to be in tip-top shape…”

            He trailed off, locking his eyes on hers.

            And in that moment, Adella knew she had him.  His eyes wandered, trailing her body, and all that was left to do was to buy a moment of privacy.

            But not too private.  The three girls had decided that all of Gryffindor would see this particular display of affection.  After all, the affect would be spectacular.

            “Can I borrow him for just a moment?  I need a real quick word,” Adella turned from Robby to his circle of friends that surrounded them, looking shocked at Adella’s boldness.

            There were murmurs of consent, and she led him to an arm chair a little bit away, but in plain sight of the Marauders.

            She sat down, and motioned Robby to join her.

            “Don’t read too much into this,” she whispered into his ear as she wrapped an arm around his neck.

            “Into what?”  He asked, looking genuinely confused.

            But she didn’t answer, choosing instead to kiss him fiercely, locking her lips on his.  He kissed her back with the same impact, and she soon found his tongue in her mouth.  She allowed his hands to wander around her back as she casually played with his hair.  

            They continued in this manner for seven minutes, until a chessboard somewhere in the room was coincidentally overturned.  Taking this as the agreed upon signal, Adella broke this kiss.

            “It was a pleasure, Rob,”  she stated, her voice detached, almost distant.

            He seemed confused for a moment, but then it seemed that something clicked.

            “I won’t,”  he said, just as she was about to turn her back and leave.

            “Won’t what?”  Adella asked, raising a brow at the younger boy.

            “Read too much into it,”

            “Good.  Now go back to your friends.  And for the record, you were good Knowles.”

            He smiled, and the two turned to go to their respective friends, each to receive congratulations.

            And from their corner of the room, the Marauders sat silently.

            “Sirius-“ Remus started, eyes never leaving Adella’s retreating back.

            “Oh, I’m on it,”  Sirus said.

            Things were definitely about to heat up.

 


	3. Throwing Out Logic

**Author's Note (Please Read):**   Okay, let's just clear a couple of things up.  First, think of the past two chapters as prologues of some sort.  This is when the plot really begins.  The first two basically just give you an idea of what this fic is all about.  That being said, I'm afraid I won't be able to update for a little while, as I am dealing with some very real and tragic things in my life right now.  This chapter was written prior to that, so until I'm feeling a little less down in the dumps, for lack of a better phrase, this is all I've got. That being said, rest assured there will be more of this fic, I just need a bit of time. Thanks for understanding.

 

And all the roads that lead you there were winding

And all the lights that light the way are blinding

There are many things that I would like to say to you

But I don't know how

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me 

And after all

You're my wonderwall.

 

 

**Chapter 3:**  Throwing Out Logic

 

~*~

  
 

            A smile, a laugh, a kiss.  A well placed hair toss, a seductive wink.  In a matter of a week, the game had exploded onto the scene at Hogwarts, leaving no person over the age of fifteen complete safe from the brash seduction that seemed to ooze from every pore of the Gryffindor seventh years.

            If the purpose of the game had been to create excitement and stir things up on the extremely tense outlook at Hogwarts, it was an overwhelming success.  But it was not without its drawbacks.  Lily, Adella, and Cassandra had never before in their lives taken so long to dress and fix their hair in the mornings, however, it became apparently obvious early on that in the sort of shallow game that they were engaged, appearance was everything.  So Lily, who abhorred early morning wake up calls, forced herself to get up at five thirty each morning to wash and magically tame her red locks into the perfect arrangement, line her enchanting emerald eyes with eye liner, and make sure her glowing tan skin was flawless.  Other minor adjustments soon became necessary as well.  For instance, the dress code flew out the window fairly quickly as well.  Suddenly, the skirts were shorter, the heels higher, and the necklines plunging.

            In short, Lily had never felt more like a prostitute in training before in her life.

            Lily Evans had been raised in a morally prestigious home.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans had preached to their daughters the importance of maintaining class and sophistication, avoiding sticky situations, and never allowing peer pressure to force you into doing something you may regret later.  They attended a small church every Sunday approximately fifteen minutes from their suburb home and carefully regulated the amount of skin both Lily and Petunia exposed before leaving the home.  Mr. Evans interrogated potential boyfriends and Mrs. Evans preached to Lily fairly often the importance of “saving herself” for marriage.

            A blind man could see that if her parents were to find out about her less than moral behavior, mild disapproval would hardly begin to cover the rage they would feel.

            This was why Lily felt conflicted.  Yes, technically she was an adult in the wizarding world.  That didn’t stop her from being Daddy’s little girl and the spitting image of her mother twenty-five years ago.  And while Lily had fought very hard to be the opposite of Petunia, who was the ideal Evans’ daughter, somehow she couldn’t shake the feeling that her parents were constantly watching her, voicing their disapproval in her head.

            And if that wasn’t a mood killer, what was?

            Oh yes. Lily was allowing her parents’ lessons to derail her, stopping her from so much as flirting with more than one bloke a day, let alone kiss him.  Blame it on her parents, her child, or her morals.  No matter how one looked at it, it was quite simple: Lily had only snogged one boy.

            There were a myriad of responses to her less than par performance.

            In Cassandra’s words, her points were “Frighteningly pathetic.”

            Adella was positive her worst suspicions about Lily’s moral upbringing were true.

            Sirius found it hilarious, and Peter and Remus neither knew, nor cared about who Lily Evans was snogging.

            And in James Potter’s opinion, things had never been better.

            For with the each Marauder having snogged eight girls, and Adella and 

Cassandra at nine and ten, respectively, if any time was the right to be worried, this was Lily’s ideal moment for panic.

~*~

            It was the last class of the day on Tuesday when Lily received a note that really caused her to get a move on her snogs.

            More accurately stated, she received a note from James Potter that infuriated her to want to kiss any male that passed her, including Severus Snape and Professor Flitwick.

_Evans,_

_  
_

_Is the idea of dating me so appealing that you can’t bear to allow yourself to kiss another bloke?_

_  
_

_Because I’m totally willing to call this all off if you want get a jump-start on that month and a half now._

_  
_

_Let me know._

_  
_

_Your Boyfriend to be,_

_  
_

_James._

_  
_

            It was disgusting and condescending, with just the right amount of arrogance that would make any other girl in the school swoon.

            However, Lily merely threw Potter a look of utmost contempt, wrinkled the note, and set it on fire.

            Lucky for Potter, class ended five minutes later, with a single thought on Lily’s mind: Kissing.

            Abandoning all logic, she merely sauntered in a very Adella like manner up to Gavin Thompson who was standing in a near by corridor.

            Later, she would regret snogging Cassandra’s ex-boyfriend.  Really she would.  But at this moment, he was hot, available, and very snoggable.

            And those were his only characteristics she was considering.

            “Gavin,” she said smiling, approaching him with a flirtatious smile.

            “Hey Lily, it’s been a while,” he said, uncomfortable.  After all, he had cheated on her best friend.  She definitely wasn’t supposed to be looking at him like that.

            “Far too long, in my oppionion,” she said, smiling softly.

            “How’s Cass doing?”  He asked, eyes shifting around.  He was quite positive this was a trick.  Cassandra was most definitely behind whatever Lily was pulling.  After all his ex-girlfriend’s best friend could not possibly be hitting on him.  It went against all girl logic.

            “She’s never been better.  Trust me.  I mean, when you cheated on her with that cheap looking Hufflepuff, we were worried.  But since the school year began, she’s really showed signs of moving on.  Or haven’t you been to the Astronomy tower lately?  Because Cassandra is definitely making that her regular hang out, if you catch my meaning,”  Lily asked coyly, giggling happily.  She felt like she was having an out of body experience.  Her Head Girl logic was definitely gone.  Logical Lily saw Insane Flirty Lily put a hand on his arm.  For a moment, he seemed to melt under her touch, but then snapped out it.

            “I don’t know what you’re getting at Evans, but if this is some ploy of Cassandra’s-“  Gavin said, voice rising slightly as he took a step back.

            “What ploy, Gavin?  Do you honestly think I’d go for that?  Do you not know me at all?”  Lily said, faking a hurt look.  She would get Gavin Thompson.  Surrender was not an option.

            “No, no, Lily, calm down, please.  I didn’t mean you were untrustworthy or anything, it’s just you’re Cass’s best friend and-“

            “Why should that matter?  You two are broken up right?”

            “Well yeah, but-“

            “What’s the problem then?”

            He knew he was playing with fire.  Lily Evans had never shown any interest in him.  But a careful look into her emerald eyes told Gavin all he needed to know.  She wanted him.

            And as a seventeen year old boy, when a girl like Lily Evans gives you “the look,” you go with the flow.

            He smirked slightly, sweeping a brown lock out of his eyes.  His blue eyes locked on her green ones, he bent his six foot two frame down to meet her five foot five one.

            With just a moment of hesitation, Lily Evans met his lips, softly at first and then aggressively.  She allowed him to push her up against the stone wall they had been standing near, pressing her body up against him.  After a few moments, they broke apart.

            “Somewhere...private,” Gavin got out through gasps for air.

            Lily looked around, seeing only a broom closet close by.

            “Will that do?”

            He didn’t answer, merely grabbing her arm and leading her inside, closing the door behind him.

            The two continued in the same frenzied manner, tripping over mops and buckets.  But neither really seemed to mind.

            Lily never noticed Cassandra who had watched the pair of them in the corridor horrified.  Nor had she noticed the amused looks from a group of third year boys.  And she definitely didn’t realize she had missed the first prefects meeting of the year.

            None of that really mattered, because Lily Evans had finally arrived.

~*~

 

            Lily felt giddy as she left the broom closest after bidding a brief goodnight to Gavin.  She didn’t bother trying to hide from patrolling prefects or ghosts, calling out greetings to paintings and even making small talk with Peeves, despite the fact he had attempted to grab her by her hair and fly her into a wall.

            She had often wondered what the appeal had been for Adella to have casual dates without ever really feeling anything for the bloke she was with.

            But tonight, she understood.  The world was serious, dangerous, and very scary.  But avoiding commitment and decisions, made her feel young, even invincible.

            Plus, Gavin Thompson was hot and an incredibly talented kisser.  That probably had something to do with it.

            All in all, Lily was truly walking on air as she approached the common room.

            That feeling was quickly cut short.

            “Pumpernickle,” she said smiling to that portrait of the Fat Lady.

            “Are you really sure you want to go in there, dear?”  The Fat Lady said, full of superior knowledge.

            “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

            “Oh well, just don’t say I didn’t warn you then.”

            With that the portrait swung open, and Lily found herself in the common room and immediately approached Adella and Cassandra, ready to tell them all about her escapades.  The pair sat close together, with Adella putting an arm around Cassandra, in a consoling manner

            “What-“  Lily started.

            “Don’t you dare.  Don’t even start with me-“

            “Cass, what’s wrong-“

            “How dare you even show your face here?  I would have expected this of Adella but you-“

            “No offense taken there, by the way,”  Adella interjected, looking sourly at Cassandra, then throwing Lily a look that clearly said “Leave me out of this.”

            “Cass, I don’t get it-“

            “I saw you, Lily!  You and Gavin!  The pair of you were sucking face like no tomorrow and I just stood there like an idiot, watching you two!  After you knew what I felt for him-“

            “I thought you were over him-“

            “I was with him for two years for Merlin’s sake!  Two years.  You wait two months and then move in like those two years never happened!”

            “Cass you said you were done with him, if I had known I would have never even looked at him-“

            “You’re supposed to just know those things Lily.  As my best friend, you should know!”

            “Cass-“

            “Save it!  Just give me a couple of days to calm down!”  She screeched, dissolving into a wave of tears, black mascara snaking down her cheeks.  With a final look of loathing at Lily, she ran up the stairs to their dorm, with Adella, shaking her head and rolling her eyes slightly, following afterward.

            “Just so you know, I’m not picking sides, I just don’t want her to set your belongings on fire,”  she said, shaking her head again.  “All this drama is exactly why I avoid relationships,” she said as she too went up the stairs to the dormitory.

            Lily stood there, speechless.

            But she wasn’t alone for long.

            Moments later, James Potter flew down the stairs, shaking with rage.

            “You slut!” he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her.

            “If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is,”  Lily murmured, determined to keep her cool in front of Potter.

            “Here I was, thinking you were sick, or hurt, or helping a friend, because that could be the only reason as to why perfect Lily Evans, Head Girl extraordinaire, would miss a prefect meeting, but what do you know, I was wrong!  She was snogging for two hours straight!”  He shouted even louder, towering over Lily.

            He had the intimidation thing down to an art.  Lily would have made some smart alec comment about that, but somehow she didn’t think he’d appreciate it at that moment.

            “The Prefect Meeting, I knew I was forgetting something tonight-“

            “You had the agenda, Evans!  So there I was, in front of McGonnagall and the prefects, who all think I’m a moron to begin with, without a single thing to discuss, except the weather.  And all the while I’m thinking, she must have a good excuse, but then I get back here and Sirius informs me you were getting busy.  And to think, I covered for you, telling McGonnagall, who was furious with the pair of us, by the way, that you were ill!  I must be really stupid, huh?”

            “Potter, no, wait, I can explain-“

            “Please do!  Because there’s no way you can justify this-“

            “It was your fault!”

            She knew the moment the words left her mouth they were stupid.  Extremely stupid.

            She expected James to scream, to yell, to turn her into a goat.  She didn’t expect him to laugh in her face.  Which he did, for several long minutes.

            “You’re pathetic, Evans.  Absolutely pathetic.  You think you’re so high and mighty you can’t even take responsibility this once and face the facts that you were wrong!  Tell me, Evans, was he worth it?  Hmm?  He better have been.  Because I swear to Merlin he’ll be the last bloke you ever kiss, myself excluded.  Take this as my own personal punishment,” he said, his eyes looking slightly crazed.

            She turned to leave for her dormitory, deciding he probably was not safe to be around at the moment, but as she left she heard him shout once again, “You’re such a slut, Evans!  You won’t make a fool out of me ever again!”

            And somehow, Lily was quite sure his anger wasn’t just because she missed a prefects’ meeting.

            And for the first time in her life, she began to wonder if maybe James really did feel something deeper for her than mere teenage hormonal attraction.

 


	4. Fighting Fire with Fire

**Author's Note:**   I fully planned to take some time off, really I did.  There are a million things I should be dealing with right now, but I'm afraid I'm totally addicted.  Plus, writing this chapter has been like therapy for me.  So here's chapter four, but I'm not promising anything on five for at least a week. haha, so in other words you'll have it by Friday, knowing me.  Enjoy, and as always, thank you thank you thank you for those reviews!  I love them and can always go for more!

**I’ve got another confession to make**

  
**I’m your fool**

  
**Everyone’s got their chains to break**

  
**Holdin’ you**

  
**Were you born to resist or be abused?**

  
**Is someone getting the best of you?**

-Foo Fighters

  
 

Chapter 4:  Fighting Fire with Fire

 

 

            Gavin Thompson was the stereotypical only child from a pure blooded family.  When he had been a child, he had once asked his mother for a puppy.  Despite explaining to her son very clearly that those types of animals were not acceptable for young wizards, Gavin had cried, screamed, and bit his mother into surrender.  Within a week, Gavin had his puppy, a baby cocker spaniel he named “Sheep.”

            Sheep and Gavin got along well for about fifteen minutes, until Gavin realized that unlike owls, which flew, cocker spaniels basically slept, barked, and ate.  And made messes all over his bedroom carpet.

            Thus ended the promising friendship of Sheep and Gavin, as Sheep was quickly sold to a very nice muggle boy that much like Gavin had begged for a puppy, and fell in love with Sheep instantly, and kept that same devotion for the rest of Sheep’s (or rather Luke, which was what this child changed the dog’s name to) ten year life.

            Gavin spent about twenty minutes pouting over the disappointment Sheep turned out to be, and then demanded and received a pet owl, which he set on fire.

            In short, nothing was ever quite good enough for Gavin in his life until he was fifteen met Cassandra Owens.

            Cassandra was quite different from himself, growing up not on a sprawling manor, but rather in a suburb of London with four older brothers and a muggle mother, with a well-off, but not overly wealthy, wizard father.  She had a white picket fence, wore blue jeans in the summer, and was insanely fond of swinging at the local park in the dead of winter.

            She was unconventional, somewhat shy, and never asked anything of anyone, except for the loyalty of her friends.

            And he fell in love with her the moment he laid eyes on her.  She was a classic beauty, the kind he knew he could bring home to his parents and would win them over immediately.  She was an English girl through and through, with pale skin, long light brown hair which she would wear either straight or curly, with dark lashes framing hazel eyes.  Her face was totally free of freckles, a rarity for such fair complexion.  But his favorite feature of hers was undoubtedly her blush.  Even the tiniest bit of attention on her caused a light pink twinge to appear on her cheeks, causing her to look so innocent, even naïve.

            Gavin had known her best friends about two years before he had met Cassandra.  When he had first been introduced to her, he had been shocked by the differences between her and her best mates.  Adella Cortez had the trademark long blonde hair that absolutely glowed, framing her movie star-like oval shaped face.  Unlike most of the girls at Hogwarts, she had a golden brown tan all year long that she spent her summers perfecting on exotic islands off the coast of Greece or Italy or some other location.  She was the shortest girl in the group, standing at just five two, but made up for it in _other_ departments.  Adella knew her chocolate brown eyes could hypnotize any man anytime, and had her fair share of high profile hook-ups.  Without a doubt, she was the most desired girl in the school as she absolutely oozed sexuality, and yet Gavin would never consider touching her, because he knew he’d be just another name on her long list.  He preferred to be Cassandra’s world forever, as opposed to Adella’s for one night.

            Lily Evans on the other hand had a more subtle appeal.  She was gorgeous, with dark red hair and mesmerizing green eyes.  She had a darker complexion than Cassandra did, but not nearly as tanned as Adella.  But Gavin found her smile to be her best feature.  He had once been told he had a smile that could light up a room.  If his smile could light a room, Lily’s smile could light the entire school.  At age fourteen, he had identified with what Potter found so irresistible about Lily, but there had always been a strict hands off policy.  Potter had some sort of claim on her, and as much as Gavin would have loved to have Lily as his own, he had respectfully, albeit resentfully, backed off.

            And so when he met Cassandra, he found himself falling for her almost immediately.  She wasn’t the vixen that Adella was, nor the regal beauty that Lily was, but a powerful beauty in her own right.  She had a magnetic personality that won him over immediately, and he had vowed, just as when he had wanted a puppy, he would make her his own.

            And for two years he had been blissfully happy, content to spend every waking moment as Cassandra Owens’s doting boyfriend.  

            He wasn’t quite sure when he fell out of love with Cassandra, he just knew that at some point toward the end of his sixth year he grew interested in what lie outside of the committed relationship realm.

            So when Katie Gardener had practically begged him to kiss her, he caved, knowing what the consequences would be, for Katie had the biggest mouth of any girl he had ever met, but he needed a way out.  It was simple: he knew he could never break things off with Cassandra because she was the nice girl, and no guy wants to be the dumper of the nice girl.

            No, it was much easier to hurt her and let her salvage her dignity by dumping him.

            And so he snogged Katie with a passion he had never dared to use with Cassandra.  

            Predictably, Katie reported the entire event at Vera Knickely’s birthday party the July before their seventh year at which much of their year was present.

            Cassandra had been crushed, but also predictably, she held her head high when she confronted him and with tears streaming down her face, broke things off for what she vowed would be forever.  He was told she nearly collapsed the moment he was out of sight, then left the party, and had refused to speak to anyone, excluding Adella and Lily, for the rest of the summer.

            Gavin wanted to feel bad, but in all honesty, he couldn’t.  Because something had changed.  He was no longer content to be Cassandra’s doting boyfriend.

            At age fourteen he had first noticed Lily Evans was everything any boy could ever want.  He had backed off, allowing Potter his pitiful attempts to win her over.

            And then she made the move and ignited what he had always felt for her at the recesses of his mind.

            And just as he had wanted a puppy, and later Cassandra Owens, Gavin now wanted Lily Evans.

            And as his mother had told him at age two, Gavin gets what Gavin wants.

 

~*~

 

            “Mmm,” Adella Cortez attempted to speak as her snogging partner fiercely bit her lower lip.  She was wrapped inside of his arms, with her neck at an awkward angle as they kissed on the sofa of some room- Adella wasn’t exactly sure where they were- during a party that lie just outside of the dingy room she was now in.

            Neck hurting and altogether positive she had put her seven minutes in, Adella was more than ready to end the snog and go back to the party, hopefully to snag a partner that had some regard for her personal comfort.

            Shifting her weight underneath the much larger boy, Adella finally found a position that was more comfortable, just as the boy planted kisses on her collar bone.

            With her mouth free, she was just about to suggest they call it a night when something changed.  What had been quite uncomfortable and horribly awkward shifted into something that felt good.  Like a candidate for the-best-snog-she-had-ever-had good.

            And that was saying something.

            She let out a little gasp of air, pulling her partner’s face away from her neck and made contact again with her mouth, allowing him full entrance with his tounge.  Thoroughly enjoying the tingles running down her spine, she allowed her hands to wander to his hair, gently tugging on a handful of locks.

            It was his turn to groan now, and she soon felt his hand underneath her shirt, right around her belly button.

            “Adella,” he sighed, stroking her stomach.

            But Adella simply froze.  It wasn’t possible.  Surely she couldn’t have been that drunk when she agreed to “have a chat” with him that she hadn’t realized who he was.

            Pulling away, she found herself locking eyes with the last boy she ever thought she’d be snogging.

            “James Potter, get your hands off me now!”  she screeched, pushing him away.  His eyes looked confused for a moment, but soon a sloppy grin crept onto his face.

            “Ah, come on now, don’t be like that, Della baby,” he said, only slightly condescendingly.

            “I can’t believe I just did that, and you’re supposed to be after Lily!”

            “Who says I’m not after Lily?  Eh?  Did you see her at the party?  I didn’t, so I settled for the next best girl in school,” he said, attempting to put an arm around her.  “Besides, clearly this is the best route to go in order to win Evans’s affections.”

            “Don’t touch me!” she said, feeling her anger dissolve slightly.  Adella had never loathed Potter the same way Lily had.  True, they weren’t exactly friends, but nonetheless Adella just had a higher tolerance level with most of the Marauders than her friend did.  Except for Sirius Black.  She’d never have tolerance for him.

            “You didn’t seem to mind a minute ago…” Potter said, trailing off.

            She pushed him, probably a little harder than necessary.  “I can’t believe I just snogged you!  Crap!  That means you get credit for the snog too!  Damnit, what a waste, and I thought I was going to make some progress tonight.”

            “Well there are plenty of blokes outside who could get the job done, want me to send someone in?  As you now know, they won’t be as skilled as me, but…”

            “And how would she know how skilled you are, Potter?”  A new voice cut in through the room.

            James and Adella both turned around sharply, seeing a very furious Lily Evans.

            “I can’t believe you!  You’re supposed to be on patrol!  And to think, only three nights ago you were yelling at me for skiving off my duties for a snog.  You’re unbelievable.”

            “Lily-“

            “You’re a hypocrite!  And with my best friend!”

            Adella attempted to interject, but Lily sent her a very sharp look.  “We’ll get to you,” she promised Adella as she shifted her weight guiltily.

            “Lily if I can just say-“

            “Just get out of my sight Potter!  You make me absolutely sick!  Get out of here!”

            James gave one final desperate look at Lily, and smiling sadly at Adella he whispered softly, “Put in a good word, alright?” to the blonde before Lily once again screeched “Out!”

            And with that, the door shut and Adella found herself alone with a Lily that looked more upset than she had ever seen her.

            “Lil-“

            “Della, what has been wrong with us lately?” she asked softly, almost sadly.  “I mean, we’re doing this big game so that I don’t have to date James, but look what its doing to the three of us.  Cass won’t speak to me because I was stupid enough to snog Gavin, and you’re in cahoots with James and his lackeys, helping him earn a snog.  Are we even going to be friends by the time all of this is over?”

            Adella sat in silence, seeing the exhaustion on Lily’s face.  She sighed.  “As for me being in cahoots with the Maruaders, you’re crazy.  I was- probably still am- drunk when I started snogging James.  It was a mistake, a really stupid one, but a mistake nonetheless.  And I’m sorry if you thought I was stabbing you in the back.  You should know me better than that.”

            Lily nodded.  Adella lacked morals, yes, but Lily had never met a more loyal or honest person in her life.  Adella didn’t lie, especially not to Lily.  Plus Adella tended to make her dumbest mistakes when she was drunk, which was why either Lily or Cassandra always had to keep tabs on her when she was going to the kind of party she was at tonight.  Lily had been late getting there, as she was finishing her patrol (of which Potter was supposed to relieve her from), and clearly by the time she got there the damage was done.

            Adella smiled momentarily and then her face became serious again.  “Now as for Cassie, I need to ask a couple of questions.  First, where do you stand with Gavin?’

            “Totally not interested.  He has his good qualities, trust me, but he’s definitely not the kind of guy I’m interested in.”

            “So you’re not planning on doing it again?”

            “Absolutely not.”

            “Well good then.  Because that will make fixing things with Cass much easier.  She isn’t seriously mad, just upset, because she can’t get over him.  I say by next week you two will be totally fine.”

            “You think?”

            “I know.”

            Lily smiled, feeling better than she had in days.  She despised being at odds with Adella and Cassandra, and the past three days had been horrible.  Cassandra had pointedly stopped speaking to her, shutting down as much as she had when she and Gavin first broke up.  Adella had gone back and forth between the two, but Lily could tell that Adella was more concerned with making sure Cass was all right as opposed to clearing things up with Lily.

            As the pair walked out of the dingy room back into the raving party, Lily felt relief and another emotion rise in her chest.  Quite unsure of what exactly that emotion was, she looked around the room, seeing James flirting shamelessly with Margie Bruins.  The emotion wasn’t anger, for while Potter had pointedly disobeyed her order to go patrol, she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him, plus she didn’t want to make a scene.

            Following Lily’s gaze, Adella muttered to Lily, “He doesn’t’ waste any time, now does he?”  Shaking her head, she continued out of the party, quite ready to call it a night.

            Lily stayed where she was, rooted at the spot.  She could only remember one other time in her life that she felt this way.  She had been six, and Peturnia had gotten a new bicycle for her eighth birthday.  The bicycle was pink with a bell, and was the exact one Lily had been dreaming about for most of that summer.

            Lily cried when Petunia opened the bicycle, and she remembered her father had called her a “jelly nose.”

            She didn’t know what that had meant originally, but she had later found out it meant she had been acting jealous.

            As the realization hit Lily, she felt the same loss of control that she had when James had sent her that note, prompting her to snog Gavin.

            She could not possibly be jealous of Margie Bruins for having James Potter’s attention.  Lily did not have those kinds of feelings for him.  And even if she did, somewhere very, very deep down inside, she refused to accept that.

            If Lily had been logical, she would have realized he was flirting with Margie in order to win the game and date Lily.

            But Logical Lily was once again pulling a disappearing act.

            She needed a boy, and she needed one now.

            Scanning the room, her eyes fell on one boy in particular.

            Smiling wickedly, Lily approached him.

            He’d definitely do.

 

~*~

 

_Smack!_

__

            Sirius Black winced as a fist made contact with his eye.

            “What the hell?” he yelled, looking around for whomever had hit him.  He heard Lily gasp and was somewhat surprised to see her, momentarily forgetting why he was with her.

            “What do you think you’re doing snogging my girlfriend Black?”  Gavin Thompson was yelling in his face, pushing Sirius roughly.

            Oh yeah, that would explain Lily’s presence.

            “I’m not your girlfriend, Gavin!”  Lily said pushing herself off the wall she had been leaning against trying to come between the two boys.  “And don’t hit Sirius; he hasn’t done a thing wrong!”

            “Stay out of this, Lily!  I can’t believe the pair of you have so little decency that you coulnd’t even find a room!  For Merlin’s sake, snogging up against the wall in the middle of a massive party for everyone to see!  I knew you had no class, Black, but you’ve sunk lower than I ever though possible,” Gavin said, pushing Sirius against the wall and bringing his fist up for another punch.

            Just as he was about to nail Sirius in the face again, Sirius ducked, wincing slightly as he saw Gavin’s fist hit the wall full force.

            Gavin turned around, ready to fight Sirius again, when James came in between them.

            “Get out of the way Potter, or you’ll get the same!”

            “Relax, Thompson, there are better ways to handle this,” James said evenly, smiling as he put an arm around the boy.  “Why don’t you just head back to the Ravenclaw common room and if you still want to kill Sirius tomorrow, we’ll talk about it.”

            Two of his Ravneclaw friends approached him from the crowd that had gathered to watch the scene.  Lily was now aware of the situation enough to realize how loud they had been.

            Walking over to Lily, Gavin kissed her cheek as his two friends prepared to lead him away.

            “We’ll talk about this in the morning,” he said roughly, smirking at her.  “And I hope I didn’t scare you,” he called over his shoulder more gently this time.

            Lily waved to him, but was very aware of the looks several members of the crowd gave her.

            That couldn’t be good.

            Suddenly though, the  attention was back on James and Sirius, as Sirius said, “Thanks, mate, I was definitely not in the mood to deal with that.”

            _Smack!_

__

            For the second time that night, Sirius found himself being punched in his left eye, and was more confused this time than the time before.

            “Ouch! What the hell James!”

            “Don’t you ever touch her again!  Do you understand me?”  He said, emphasizing his point with a punch in the stomach.

            “Damn it, alright!  Jeez, Evans you’ve brought me nothing but trouble!”  He groaned as doubled over in pain.

            James threw Lily a sharp look and then stalked out of the room.

            As he left, Lily heard the noise in the room rise and she knew the gossip mill was undoubtedly ready to explode.

            And she also knew that whatever was being said, it undoubtedly involved her in someway.

            And that couldn’t be good.  


 


	5. Attempting to Mend

**Author's Note:** I am officially on summer break.  I realize to most of you, you could care less, BUT that means that now i can update more frequently and NOT feel guilty about neglecting my homework. yay!  alright, so here's chapter five.  I'm not too sure how i feel about it, but eh, here it is.

I LOVE REVIEWS, BY THE WAY.  i have had over a thousand hits, and i'm begging you to review after you read.  even if its just to say you suck. okay i'm ranting, so here it is.

**I'm obsessive when just one thought of you comes up**

****

  
I'm aggressive just one thought of closing up 

  
You got me stressing, incessantly pressing the issue 

  
'Cause every moment gone you know I miss you

-Rhiannon

**Chapter Five:** Attempting to Mend

            The weekend following the disastrous party fight was exhausting, to say the least.

            In short, no one was really speaking to anyone.

            Lily refused to speak to Potter, as she felt she was justified because he was “an egotistical hypocrite and treated a perfectly respectable party like a three-ring circus.”

            Likewise, James was not too happy with Lily, as she had made out with his best friend, and had her “flipping crazy stalker love interest” attack his best friend.  However, while James was on Sirius’s side as far as the Gavin and Sirius fight was concerned, the pair of them were not speaking because Sirius had “sucked face with the Lily” the girl that apparently James would “shag, or else die trying.”

            Sirius was too proud to speak to anyone who had been at the party, as he had been beaten up not once, but a record two times in a matter of minutes, and as he saw it “there’s only so much a male’s ego can take before he best crawl in a hole and wait for it to pass.”

            Adella was furious with Lily doing exactly what she had accused her of doing-“being in cahoots with the Marauders.”

            But that was nothing compared to the rage that the usually mild tempered Cassandra Owens felt.

            Feeling that Lily had stabbed her in the back twice now (“Once for snogging Gavin, and twice for leading him to believe you were his girlfriend!”), Cassandra was point-blank refusing to speak to anyone, save Adella.

            And as Lily’s best friends and the two people she needed to be on friendly terms with the most during the game, if there had ever been a worse time for a fight amongst the three girls, Lily flat out couldn’t remember it.

 

~*~

 

 

            Monday mornings sucked in general.

            But the Monday following that Friday was especially bad for Lily.  She woke up late, as her alarm clock never went off, and with no Adella or Cassandra to wake her up, she was nearly late to her first class of the day, Potions.

            Running into the dungeons with her blouse buttoned only enough so that her black bra was not revealed and wearing the only pair of shoes she had been able to find (three inch black stilettos), she was fully aware she was a giant advertisement for “How To Earn a Dress Code Violation and a Detention,” yet she entered the classroom just as the bell rang.

            It was not until she took a moment to catch her breath did she realize that Slughorn was not yet present, which would give her a chance to slink to the back of the room and compose herself.

            She looked around the room to find her friends, but quickly realized that neither Adella nor Cassandra would probably be willing to sit with her on that particular day.  A quick glance at the Gryffindor seventh year boys told her more or less the same thing.

            She looked around desperately for Maggie Wilkinson, a Ravenclaw, who would often partner up with whichever girl from Gryffindor was without a partner, but much to her dismay she saw Maggie sitting with the devil incarnate himself, Gavin Thompson.

            “Fabulous,” she thought, resigning herself to sitting in the front row with Severus Snape.

            “All right if I partner with you for today?”  She murmured, plopping down next to him.

            Snape considered her for a moment, and then barely inclined his head.  “I suppose.  He glanced over his shoulder at the Gryffindors, all of whom were watching the scene with raised eyebrows.  “You’re in a fight with the Brat Pack,” he said flatly, not asking, rather stating a fact.

            “Something like that,” Lily murmured.  

            Snape merely nodded, a sign that all modes of conversation were officially shut off.

            This was perfectly fine with Lily.  She wasn’t looking to make friends with someone that frequently enjoyed calling her a mudblood and tortured her best friends with rude, leering comments.

            They sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, and then thankfully Slughorn burst into the room with a cheerful “Hello, hello, sorry I’m late!”

            After giving instructions, the class began a potion, and thankfully that provided a distraction for Lily, who had been quite caught up in her own thoughts.

            Lily was quite good at potions.  On most days, she excelled at it, coming in second in the class to only Snape himself.  But today, she was totally under the weather, far more concerned about the whispers coming from Adella and Cassandra from two tables behind her.

            Which of course was why she accidentally put the dandelion root into the cauldron twenty minutes before it was supposed to, causing the potion of explode all over Slughorn, who had been walking in front of their work station at the time.

            “Merlin Evans!  Where is your head today?”  Snape yelled icily as their teacher ran out of the room to clean up, giving the class instructions to clean up five minutes before the bell rang.

            Taking that as a signal that class was dismissed for the day, the seventh years relaxed, and the once silent atmosphere erupted with talking and laughter.

            Lily sighed and began to help Severus clean up their soaking wet work station.

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do this,” she said sincerely, albeit a bit tiredly.  “Stuff happens, right?”

            Snape merely glared at her, casting a cleaning charm on the room.  “Perhaps “stuff happens” in the world of lazy Gryffindors, but I pride myself on not making mistakes, especially in the classroom.  I don’t really care what your-“

            But Lily was no longer listening.  She had just been hit with a note, and so rather discreetly she opened it, recognizing Adella’s handwriting at once.

 

            _Wanna be friends again?  You’re going to have to earn it.  We’ve discussed it, and we have an assignment for you  Don’t worry, it won’t interfere with our lovely bet with the Marauders at all.  Actually, it should help you get a snog without stabbing anyone in the back.  Just a suggestion, get started now!_

__

           _-Dell and Cass_

__

            Flipping over the note, Lily let out an audible groan.

            This really was the very last thing she needed

.

            For in Adella’s writing were the words “ _Snog Severus Snape senseless, and then we’ll talk.”_

__

            Running a hand through her hair, Lily turned around, seeing the two girls looking at her.  Cassandra smirked almost cruelly, while Adella cocked an eyebrow and waved.

            Fully aware Snape was still berating her with the unattractive characteristics of Gryffindors, Lily took a deep breath.

            “You’re hot,” she said, smiling coyly.

            Snape stopped mid-sentence.  “I beg your pardon?”

            “You heard me.  Seeing you get all worked up like that, well it just gets me all excited, Severus,” she hissed into his ear.

            Snape leaned back, avoiding her touch.  “What are you doing, Evans?”

            “I’m getting what I want,” she purred, and in one fluid motion, she grabbed the back of his (greasy) head and locked lips with him.

            He tried to struggle away from her, but she merely held his head in place, forcing her tongue into his mouth.  With that, he used both of his arms to try to push her off of him, but instead, she moved him so his back was to their table, leaving him cornered and with nowhere to go.

            It was going to be a long seven minutes.

 

~*~

 

 

            “We are evil,” Adella said, doubled over in laughter as they watched the scene before them.  “Absolutely pure evil.”

            “Hey!  It wasn’t my idea to use this as her punishment.  I was all for going on strike and not snogging anyone and allowing the Marauders to win the whole thing.  A month and a half as Potter’s girlfriend would certainly be worse than snogging Snape.”

            “Nothing could be worse than snogging Snape,” Adella said disgustedly, taking her eyes away from Lily and Snape (Lily had just straddled him on his chair) to look around the room.  “Plus if you think I was going to stop snogging just to punish Lily…”

            “Alright, alright, I know,” Cassandra said, smiling at Adella.  “Personally, I think he’s enjoying it, I mean, look at his face.”

            This produced a fresh wave of giggles from both girls, as Snape’s eyes were wide open and looked as if he would murder Lily the moment she came up for air.

            “What in Merlin’s name is so funny, you two?” Sirius Black said as he approached the two laughing girls.  Neither answered, instead merely motion to the front of the room.

            “Sweet Mother of Pearl! My eyes!  My eyes!”  he yelled, covering his eyes with his hands and falling onto the ground dramatically.  “You two call that funny?”

            “Yes!” they answered in unison, laughing at Lily’s wild attempts to hold Snape still.

            “What on earth is she doing?” he asked, looking alarmed.

            “She’s being punished.”  Adella answered matter of factly.

            “You’re sick Cortez, real sick.”

            “Thank you, baby,” she said sarcastically, never taking her eyes away from the snogging couple.

            “So after she does this, what, you three will be good again?”  Black asked, shaking his head confusedly.

            “Of course.  It’s not as though we’re really all that mad at her or anything.  Well we were, but we miss her.  If there’s anything we hate more than you and Potter, Black, it’s fighting with each other.  So Lily does this one stupid thing, and then we’re good again.  End of story.  After all, it was all just a huge misunderstanding.  We realized that last night,” Cassandra said, smiling at Lily

            “You two are sick.  How is it that no one else notices this debacle at the front of the room?”  He asked, noticing that everyone else seemed quite unaware of the fact that the Head Girl was running her hands through Severus Snape’s oily hair.

            “I don’t know, but clearly they’re missing out,” Cassandra said, giggling all over again.

            “Oy!” Sirius called back to James, forgetting temporarily that they weren’t speaking.  “Check out your girl, Prongs!”

            That brought the proper attention to Lily and Snape to the rest of the class, and for forty-five seconds exactly, the class watched in horror as Lily snogged Snape with more passion than many had ever seen before in their lives.

            Finaly, after what felt like forever, Cassandra yelled out “Time!  Get off of him, quick Lils!”

            “Oh thank Merlin!” Lily yelled as she broke apart.  Smiling innocently, Lily meremly grabbed Snape’s hand and shook it much in the manner of business partners completing a deal.

            “Well, thanks for that Snape.  I appreciate it, really,” she said, trying not to burst out in laughter.  Catching Adella and Cassandra’s eyes, Lily motioned her head to the door, and the two nodded.

            “Bye all!” 

            “Ciao darling!”

            “We’ll be back Wednesday!”

            And the three left the classroom, barely making it out of the dungeons before collapsing in waves of laughter.

            There was much to talk about.  They had loyalties and betrayal to discuss, not to mention how they would deal with the repercussions of Lily’s “performance” in Potions.

            But at this moment, they were best friends who were seventeen and never felt more alive.  And so they laughed.

 

~*~

 

            They laughed all the way into Professor McGonnagall’s office.

            But then the very stern Headmistress stormed in, with Severus Snape in tow, and that pretty much ended their amusement. 

            “Never before, in my entire career…absolutely disgraceful…I expected better of you Miss Evans!...and for seven minutes, Good Lord!…and you two, all for a bet or a joke, I suppose…glad to see someone finds it funny…thirty points from Gryffindor…detention for the rest of the week…now good day!”

            The three left her office, feeling slightly embarrassed, but nonetheless happy.

            “Did you see the hicky I gave him?”  Lily asked the other two, bursting into laughter again.

            “Yes!” the two cried in unison.

            And they were off again.

 

~*~

 

            “Prongs!  Hey Prongs wait up!”  Sirius called, running down the corridor after potions to catch up with James and Remus, who were quckly walking away from the Potions classroom.

            Instead of slowing down, they seemed to speed up, causing Sirius to sprint down the hallway after him.

            “James, listen, we need to talk,” Sirius gasped, bending over and putting his hands on his knees.  “You really walk fast, have I ever told you that?”

            “All the time,” James said, glancing down at Sirius with one eyebrow raised.  “What do you want, Sirius?”

            “I want to be friends again!”

            Remus burst into laughter, but a sharp look from Sirius caused him to disguise it as a cough.

            “I’m sick,” he said after finishing his “coughing fit.”

            James smiled at him, and then turned back to Sirius.  “You kissed Evans.”

            “She kissed me.”

            “You could have pushed her off of you.”

            “I was drunk off of my ass and she was as hot as hell.  And by the way you snogged Cortez!”

            “It doesn’t matter if you were drunk!  You should have stopped her!”

            Sirius was about to reply when Remus suddenly cut in  “Did you just get mad because he snogged Cortez?”

            Sirius stopped.

            “I believe he did, Remus,”  James said, smiling wickedly at Sirius.  “Does someone have a little crush on Miss Adella Cortez?”

            “Shut it!  She’s just a thorn in my side because she won’t let me hook up with her!  She’s let everyone else, minus you dolts, and I want a turn too!”

            James and Remus both laughed, and Remus threw an arm around Sirius’s shoulders.  “Oh Padfoot, sometimes you are so childish it is just down right amusing.”

            “Why thank you, Mooney, you’re too kind.  Can we be friends again and go torture Snape please?” Sirius whined in a high-pitched voice, turning back to James.

            “Will you stop using that voice if I say yes?”  James asked, rubbing his temple.

            “Only if you really mean it,”  Sirius said, smiling sweetly.

            “Oh, fine.  Just don’t touch Evans again, okay?”  James said, holding out his hand for Sirius to shake.

            “Trust me, she is so not worth it,” Sirius said, rubbing his gut which was still sore from the Friday night fight.  Shaking James’s hand, Sirius smiled.

            “Thank Merlin things are back to normal,” Remus muttered as the three trekked off to their next class.

            Just as they were about to enter Muggle Studies, James felt someone tug him backwards, away from Sirius and Remus.

            To his shock, it was Lily herself, flanked by Cortez and Owens.

            “This can’t be good,” James said, eying the girls warily.

            “We have a proposition for you, Potter,” Owens said, smiling dangerously.

            “And if I were you, I’d accept, if you ever want Lily to speak to you again after you humiliated her Friday,” Cortez finished, just as dangerously.

            James rubbed his temple, staring hard at Lily.

 

            “I’m listening.”  


 


	6. Playing with Danger

**Author's Note:** I am cruel, I realize for leaving you all with a little cliff-hanger at the end of five.  But look, i'm back pretty fast, so you gotta give me some credit.  I was so so stoked at all those reviews after my last chapter...I'm up to fifty-one, i believe?  that's sweet...AND i've had over 2000 hits now. But okay a HUGE HUGE thanks to one of my reviewers, Traceria for giving me the idea for Lily's proposal to James...you're a genius, just to let you know, and i cannot take credit for that.  Enough rambling, back to the story!! Enjoy!

 

**When we live such fragile lives**

  
**It's the best way we survive**

  
**Go around a time or two**

  
**Just to waste my time with you**

  
  
**Tell me all that you've thrown away**

  
**Find out games you don't wanna play**

  
**You are the only one that needs to know**

-All American Rejects

 

**Chapter 6: Playing with Danger**

 

        Lily smirked at James, thoroughly enjoying watching him squirm.

            “You haven’t been playing fairly, James,” she said, walking in a slow circle around him, while never taking her eyes off his.

            “I never promised I would,” James said, his face completely devoid of all emotion.

            Lily scowled, her famed red-headed temper nearly flaring up.  “I’d reconsider not promising that, if I were you.”

            “Talk straight with me, Evans.  What the hell do you want that it can’t wait until after class?”

            “I want you to go on a hiatus from our game.”

            “No.”

            The girls exchanged knowing looks.  “We knew you’d say that,” Cassandra said, not appearing to lose her calm in the least.

            “Yeah, well aren’t you three just a bunch of Cassandra Trelawnys,” James shot back, growing increasingly irritated.

            “Let’s just get something straight, Potter.  If you win this game, you didn’t do it fairly.  And so, even if I am forced to date you because of our agreement, don’t expect me to act like a nice girlfriend.  You won’t get what you want.  I’ll be your girlfriend in name, but definitely not in practice.  Do I make myself clear?”

            “Damn it, Evans.  Are you telling me to surrender?”

            “No, Potter, I’m simply proposing that you drop out for two weeks, which would give me time to catch up with you in snogs.  Then we’re even, and we can compete fairly, without you throwing punches every time I look at another bloke.  At the rate I’m going, I don’t stand a chance, and that’s mainly your fault.”

            “Two weeks is way too long.  I’ll give you five days.”

            “Five days would mean almost four snogs a day.  I’m a girl, Potter, not a machine.  I have classes and other duties to attend to and I, alike you, don’t have time to snog my days away.  I want two weeks.”

            “One week,” James said stubbornly.

            “Ten days,” Cassandra said, jumping in before Lily could argue.

            “Done,” James said, a note of finality in his voice.  He and Lily shook on it, but not before Lily threw Cassandra an irritated glance.

            “Sirius is going to kill me,” James said, shaking his head.

            “Relax, you boys would still outnumber us even if the pair of you were to even out you totals,” Adella cut in smoothly.  “Remus and Peter are both well on their way to their goal of twenty-five, while Sirius still outnumbers Cass, even if he’s tied with me.  So even if you stop snogging for a while, unless things change drastically, the other boys will finish before myself and Cassandra.”

            “This is suicide, you know,” James said giving all three girls a sharp look.

            “Be that as it may, you’ve already agreed to it,” Lily said, eager to get back to class.

            “Yes, but only because it apparently means so bloody much to you.  But let me tell you something, Evans.  When I beat you in the end, and trust me, I will beat you, you will play the part of the perfect girlfriend.  That means going to Quidditch practices, games, picnic lunches in the dead of winter, and Hogsmeade, where we will walk around hand in hand.  Am I clear?”

            Lily’s eyes narrowed dangerously.  “You don’t know me at all, Potter, do you?”

            “Why’s that?”

            “Because once I decide to go for something, I never, ever, lose.”

            “Then you better get to snogging, Lily my dear.  Because I’m ready to finish this damn thing right now.”

            With a final glare James’s way, Lily turned on her heel and stormed off to Arithmancy with Adella, fully aware that by the time they arrived, she would be nearly ten minutes late.

            But really, what was ten minutes when she could be Potter-less for the rest of her life.

            James too turned on his heel, closely followed by Cassandra, and stormed into Muggle Studies, throwing his bag next to Sirius.

            “She’s bloody mad,” he whispered fiercely to his best mate.

            “Evans?  What did she want?”

            “For me to stop snogging for ten days so that she can play catch-up, stating that if I didn’t she’d make me miserable for the entire time we were going out.”

            “She can’t do that!  Surely you didn’t agree to it,” Remus said, leaning over Sirius to hear what the fuss was all about.

            James didn’t answer.

            “Shit,” Remus and Sirius said in unison, shaking their heads at James’s poor judgment.

            “Why?  What on earth could have possibly inspired you to do this?”  Remus asked, already envisioning himself paying Cortez and Owens the twenty galleons they would owe them after they lost the game.

            “Because this is my one last shot with Lily.  And when I win it, I don’t want anyone, especially not Evans to think I cheated her into it.  When I win this, there will be no doubt on anyone’s mind that I did it fairly.”

            “You’re pathetic, Prongs,” Sirius said, shaking his head at his lovesick friend.

            “Be that as it may, don’t worry, I have a plan.  Well sort of.  I’m going to need your help though,” James said, his mischievous smile lighting up his face.

~*~

            They had been in school for exactly a month, and in that time, so much had changed.  To any observer, the differences in the seventh years during their first month of school were astounding.

            James Potter had ceased to ask Lily Evans out, and all in all, except for the occasional head duties, the pair rarely interacted at all.

            What had once been nightly screaming matches between Adella Cortez and Sirius Black had stopped completely.  The two still didn’t necessarily get along with one another, yes, but all in all, it was as though they had forgotten how to get to the Gryffindor common rooms, that’s how little time they now spent there.

            Cassandra Owens had yet to find a steady boyfriend to replace Gavin Thompson, a shocking feat in itself for the girl who had never, ever been without a permanent fixture.

            Remus Lupin was beginning to abandon his bashfulness, flirting with females in a very Potter or Black manner, but since he lacked their arrogance, was quickly finding he could be more of a ladies man than either two combined, if he felt inclined to do so, which he made very clear to his fellow Marauders that he definitely did not.

            And finally there was little Peter Pettigrew, who was shockingly snogging girls for the first time in his life.  He felt liberated, alive, free.  In short, he felt like a mini-Sirius, and that was, in Peter’s opinion, the best thing he had ever felt in his life.

            The seven Gryffindor seventh years were not friends.  Far from it, in fact.  Yet somewhere deep inside that rivalry that had lodged its way between them was a mutual respect that competitors often felt for their opponents, mainly due in part to the lack of foul play by either end, save James’s occasional fights.  They respected on another for what they were doing for their friends, and that show of loyalty and decency to one another made what could have been a rather nasty game into something was, at least in that first month, highly amusing and down right fun.

            But James was determined to make Lily his own, and after looking very carefully at the statistics, it didn’t take a genius to see that on the girls’ side his biggest threat was Adella Cortez, who like Sirius had already passed the half-way mark.

            Which was why the four Marauders were still wide-awake at two o’clock in the morning on Thursday October 4in their dormitory.

            “I always knew that one would give us trouble,” Peter said solemnly.

            “She’s brash, just dives in, doesn’t even consider the consequences,” Remus said, having observed her in the common room earlier that night snogging Zachary Wood, giving her snog number thirty-one.

            “We need to stop her; it’s like we’ve said from the beginning.  If even one of them finishes before at least two of us, we’re hosed.  Sirius, you and Remus have to finish before she does.  How many more do you have left, mate?”  James said, first addressing Remus.

            “I snogged Rachel Yeager last night, which gave me number eighteen, which only puts me close to twenty-five, which is all I need.  But with the full moon next Tuesday, I’m out of commission for at least five days.”

            “Sirius? How many to you have”

            “Thirty.”

            “Shit, she pulled ahead.”

            “She still has nineteen to go though,” Peter pointed out.

            “She’s been snogging two a day, and on the weekends sometimes three a day.  By the time I’m back, she’ll be done,” Remus said moodily.  “And no offense Pete, but you’re just not as far along as you need to be to stop her.”

            “We need to find out her weakness,” James said, meeting each of the boys’ eyes in turn.  “Padfoot, you’ve known her the longest.  What’s her secret?”

            Sirius shook his head.  “Haven’t a clue.  The Cortez’s are tight-lipped about everything.  When I was younger, our families would often get together, and I remember everything was, ‘Don’t ask about this, you can’t look through that, stay out of this room.’  It was disgusting.”

            “Maybe we’re targeting the wrong girl then,” Remus pointed out, raising a brow.  “Let Adella get her fifty snogs.  That’s perfectly fine.  Hell, James let Lily catch up to you.  All three have to reach fifty before the game can end.”

            “What are you getting at, Mooney?” James asked, thoroughly confused.

            “Owens’s is the one with the weakness we can expose,” Peter said, fully aware of where Remus was going with this.

            “Right you are, Wormtail.  Cassandra Owens needs a boyfriend.  Once she gets a boyfriend, I guarantee her snogging days will disappear.”

            All four boys smiled wickedly.

            “Now, who’s to be the lucky guy?” Sirius asked, growing uneasy as all three sets of eyes turned to him.  “Oh crap.”

            “Take one for the team, Padfoot,” James said, smiling at Sirius’s discomfort.

            “But how will I continue snogging if I’m tied down?”  Sirius pouted, not liking this plan so much anymore.

            “You’re Sirius bloody Black mate,” Peter said, smirking at Sirius.  “It’s not as though you haven’t found a way to snog in tougher circumstances.”

            Sirius nodded.

            It was on.

~*~

            It was not until that Saturday that they set their plan in motion.

            They had never really decided on a specific day as to when they would begin Operation Killjoy, but James figured that this Saturday was as good as any, especially after his euphoric victory over Hufflepuff during the first Quidditch match of the year.

            The game had been remarkable, simply put.  As the captain, James was proud of his team.  He had put together an unstoppable line-up, filled with plenty of depth, which he was sure would win the cup not only this year, but for at least next year as well, as James was the only seventh year on the team.

            All in all, they had trounced last year’s Quidditch Cup winners, a sure sign that Gryffindor was the team to watch out for.

            And it was during the after-party in the common room that the boys decided to set their plan into action.

            The party was wild, and somehow members Ravenclaw and even some of the more decent Slytherins had found a way into it.

            With the music blaring and butterbeers pouring all around him, James made his way over to Lily, trusting Sirius to take care of the rest of Operation Killjoy.

            “Evans!” he shouted, throwing an arm around Lily’s shoulders.  “Did you see the match today?”

            “Naturally,” she said dryly, pretending not to be impressed by the team’s performance.  This was an act though, James was quite positive.  He knew Lily was as addicted to the game as any other Hogwarts student.

            “Well, what did you think?”

            “You’re good, Potter.  Not just you, but the whole team.  And I think it was wise to give positions to the younger years, because you’ve set them up securely for a couple more years at least.  It was a smart move,” she finished, smiling slightly.

            “Do you really think?”

            “I do,” she said, allowing herself to almost flirt with him.  Lily was feeling herself lose control.  It was his smile, she was positive.  That smile in combination with massive quantities of butterbeer could be the only explanation for the butterflies in her stomach.

            “Dance with me?”  James asked, trying his luck.

            She nodded, almost hesitantly, but took his hand and allowed him to lead her onto the floor just as a slow song came on.

            Putting her arms around his neck, she felt her skin tingle as he put his hands on her hips.

            For a moment, she almost backed away, but some part of her brain was screaming at her to relax and give in.

            And so she did.  Lily felt herself close the gap between their bodies, resting her head on his shoulder.

            Shocked, James looked down at her and seeing the content look in her eyes, he smiled.

            This was perfection.

~*~

            “Hey Owens,” Sirius said, approaching the pretty brunette.

            “Black,” she said, nodding her head in acknowledgement.

            “What’s a pretty little thing like you doing over here without a bloke at such a fantastic party?”

            “It’s called learning how to be independent, Black.  I am learning how to stand on my own two feet without a guy next to me.”

            “That’s a boring theory, Owens.  Where’s the fun in being single when you’re dying to get back out there and play the field?”

            “I’ve been playing the field, Black.  Or did you fail to notice that in one month I have snogged twenty-four guys.”

            “That’s not really your nature, though, is it?”

            His words cut through her.  She froze.  It wasn’t her nature, and she knew it.  Cassandra wanted a boyfriend, missed the security that a constant companion could bring.  “No, I’m afraid it isn’t,” she said softly, lowering her eyes from his.

            “It’s alright.  Not all of us are like Cortez.”

            “Adella? Nah, I’d say you’re the one that gets around more, Sirius.”

            “But I’m tired of it.  All this snogging on command has made me realize something, Owens.”

            “And what’s that?”

            “I wanna try the commitment thing.”

            Cassandra narrowed her eyes.  “Are you joking me?”

            “Course not,” Black said, putting on what he hoped would be his most trustworthy face.  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.  I’ve never been in a committed relationship, mainly because I’ve never found the right girl.  But now I think I’ve found her.”

            “Yeah, and who’s that?”

            “You.  You’re the right girl.”

            “I’ve heard that one before, Black.  I’m not about to make that mistake again,” she said turning to leave.  This was killing her.  Here it was, everything she had been missing, dangled before her, yet she couldn’t get Gavin’s face from her head.

            “Don’t judge me because of Thompson’s stupidity.”

            Cassandra stopped, whipping back around to face Black.  She considered him.  He was gorgeous, intelligent, and despite herself, she knew she could trust him.

            It’s funny how we make the same mistakes over and over again.  Gavin had tricked Cassandra not even four months ago, and now, with the same use of sugary words and honest eyes, Sirius Black was finding deceit easier than ever.

            He knew he’d break her heart.  Sirius Black was not a bad guy, though.  He did not want to intentionally hurt a poor girl that was too naïve to see the truth.  But James was his brother, and as was the custom of the Marauders, they always put one another’s needs over anyone else’s’.

            Cassandra nodded, and Sirius closed the gap between the two of them with one step.  Looking into her eyes, Sirius lowered his lips to hers.

            “This is for you, Prongs,” he thought, and with one kiss, their previously fun and amusing game took a turn for the worse.

~*~

            Lily had been doing a stand up job avoiding Gavin Thompson for the entire week following the party at which he had declared her as his girlfriend.

            On the Tuesday morning following the Quidditch match, her luck ran out.

            “Evans!  Evans, wait up for a moment?”  He called out to her as she was leaving History of Magic.  Lily groaned, and next to her, she heard Adella laugh.

            “Doesn’t give up, that one, now does he?”

            “You are so not helpful right now,” Lily said, smiling despite herself.

            “Evans, there you are!” Gavin said, approaching the two girls with his magnetic smile.  “Cortez, I need a word with Evans, if you don’t mind.”

            “But I do mind,” Adella said, deciding to save Lily.  “You see, Lily is on this, er, medication, and she needs to be with someone at all times,” Adella said, putting on what she sincerely prayed was a convincing face.

            “But I’d be with her,” Gavin said, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.

            “Well, you don’t count.”

            “Just stand five steps away, Cortez, this is private.”

            “I tried,” Adella muttered, taking exactly five steps away from Lily and Gavin, and watching them with suspicion.

            “We need to talk about that Friday,” Gavin said, after he was sure Adella was out of earshot.

            “There’s nothing to talk about, Gavin.  I made a mistake snogging you, and then another one snogging Sirius.  I don’t want to be your girlfriend, or anyone’s girlfriend right now, for that matter, and I’m sorry that I fooled around with you like that,” Lily said, sincerely meaning what she was saying.

            Gavin looked mildly disappointed.  “But I thought-“

            “I wasn’t being fair to you.  Gavin, right now I just want to have a good time.”

            “I could show you a good time though!  Really ask Cassandra!”

            “I’m flattered that you feel that way, really I am, but I just don’t deserve a guy like you right now,” she said, deciding to play to his ego instead.

            “I know, but really, who does?” Gavin said, perfectly serious in his conceited comment.  “Lily Evans, I want to be your boyfriend.”

            “I can’t,” Lily said, beginning to lose patience.

            “Is it because of your medication?”  Gavin asked, scratching his head.

            “It’s because of Cassandra!  She still has feelings for you!”  Lily was frantic.  She would never, ever date Gavin Thompson, and was quickly beginning to realize how clingy and annoying he could really be.

            To her enormous surprise, Gavin laughed.

            “Hey, don’t laugh at her, it’s not her fault she can’t get over blokes so easily,” Lily said, angry that he would mock her best friend.

            “No, I’m not laughing about that, trust me, I would never.  It’s just that you have no clue, do you?”

            “No clue about what, Gavin?”

            “Cass is definitely over me.”

            “Really she’s not, it’s all just an act.”

            “No, trust me, she is.  Why else would be going out with Sirius Black?”

            Lily started.  “What?”

            “Yeah, he asked her out Saturday night.  So now that we know she doesn’t care, what do you say about you and me?”

            “I’ve got to go Gavin!  I’ll see you around!”

            Lily began to run away from him as fast as she could, grabbing Adella’s hand and pulling her along.

            “Okay, but are you sure you should be running with your illness, Lily?”  Gavin called out after her.

            Lily ignored him, opting rather to turn to Adella as they flew through the corridor.  “We are so screwed.”

            “Lily what is the matter with you?  Can we please stop running?”  Adella complained, her arm beginning to feel as though it was no longer in its socket.

            “Della, Cass is going out with Sirius!”

            “Shit!”  Adella yelled, frustrated with this new turn of events.

            Just as the two girls were about to reach a corridor where the typically met Cassandra during their morning break, they heard a male voice yell for them to stop.

            “Evans!  Cortez!  Stop right where you are!”

            The two girls turned around to face the new Arithmancy professor, David Vector, a young and good-looking (albeit a bit dim-witted) man of around twenty-two.

            “Detention, tonight for both of you, and Cortez I want to see you again tomorrow for language.  And ten points from Gryffindor.”

            Lily let out a string of insults after she was sure he was gone, but was quite shocked when Adella did not join in her berating of their professor.

            “What’s up?” she said, feeling uneasy about the look on Adella’s face.

            “Vector was looking down my shirt.”

            “So?”  Lily asked, failing to follow along with Adella.

            “So I can get double points by snogging my professor.”

            “Ah, I get it now.  Do you think you’ll be able to manage it?”

            Adella threw Lily a look, and Lily nodded her head.

            This was going to be too easy.

**The Standings:** (as of the end of Chapter 6)

Boys

James-26

Sirius-30

Remus-18

Peter-16

Boys total-90

Snogs to go-60

Girls

Lily-8

Adella-31

Cassandra-25

Girls Total-64

Snogs to go-86 


	7. Lighting a Spark

**Author's Note:** Hello all.  I'm sorry it's been so long, but I'm on summer vacation, and so therefore, the lazies have set in.  I'll do better for chapter eight, hopefully.  But first thank you all of my reviewers, you all are amazing.  stick with the story, and keep reviewing!! 

**And isn't this exactly where you'd like me**

  
**I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know**

  
**Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety**

  
 

-Panic! At the Disco

**Chapter Seven:**  Lighting a Spark

 

            “Don’t the pair of you have detention?”  Cassandra said that same night, flipping through “Witch Weekly” as Lily used her wand to give her glossy red locks a bit more volume, and Adella came out from the bathroom in a uniform skirt that looked as though it could have belonged to a first year.

            “Yeah,” Lily said, handing Adella eyeliner.  “A bit on the bottom would do you some good.”

            “Then why are you dressed as though you’re about to go snog?”  She asked, raising an eyebrow.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Adella snapped, gazing at her appearance.  The short skirt made her legs look miles long, and with after carefully unbuttoning her shirt’s buttons at just the right spots, she had the naughty schoolgirl look down to an art.

            “Come on, I know you two are mad about Sirius but there’s no need to leave me out in the cold,” Cassandra said, pouting slightly.

            “Adella’s gonna snog Professor Vector,” Lily said, smirking a mile wide.

            “Lily!  That information is top-“

            “Oh my god!  You have to be kidding me!  He is so good looking!”  Cassandra squeaked, throwing her magazine aside and rushing over with the other two girls.

            “I know!”  Lily said, smiling at Adella, who despite herself was dissolving into giggles.  “And he’s older, so that means he’ll definitely know what he’s doing, unlike some of the blokes in our year.”

            “So why are you getting all cute for detention?”  

Cassandra said, looking at Lily.  True, she wasn’t as sultry looking as Adella, but her appearance was surely not what one would expect for a detention.

            “I’m going to visit the Ravenclaw common room after we get out,” Lily said, giving Cassandra a knowing look.  “Do you want to come along?”

            Cassandra paused, and Adella shook her head.  “Of course she doesn’t.  Why on earth would she want to cheat on poor Sirius?”

            “No!  Really, girls it’s not like that!”

            “Then prove it.”  Lily said her face cold and calculating.

            Lily and Adella stared at Cassandra, waiting in silence for her answer.  Cassandra shuddered.  The pair of them were down right terrifying when the decided to intimidate someone.

            “Okay, what time will you get done with detention?”  She said at last, giving in.

            “Maybe around eight-thirty, it all depends on what we have to do.”

            “I’ll be ready by eight at the latest.”

            “Good.”

            And with that, the Lily and Adella turned on black high heels, leaving Cassandra to wonder how exactly she was going to manage cheating on Sirius Black.

 

~*~

 

            “Relax, Dell, you’ve got this in the bag,” Lily whispered as the approached the Arithmancy classroom.

            “I’m not nervous,” Adella said, her voice giving her away.

            Lily threw her a look.  “Okay, I’m nervous.  But only because this could potentially get me in big trouble.”

            “It won’t.  This guy is a genius when in comes to Arithmancy, but other than that, he’s dumber than a rock.  Just put on that big confident smile and go knock him dead.”

            Adella nodded, pulling out her compact and smoothing her long blonde hair, which tonight was carefully arranged into big, loose curls that were held off her face by a glittery black headband.  She nodded her head at her appearance, then put the compact back into her small handbag.  She was ready.

            Knocking on the door, the girls heard him say, “Come in,” and with that, Lily pushed the door open, and the two walked in confidently.

            Vector looked up and seemed startled, to say the least.  Before him stood two girls that he definitely wouldn’t have pegged as seventeen year-olds in a million years.  He gave them a firm smile, and then cleared his throat.  After a beat of silence, he spoke.

            “I want you both to know that I firmly disprove of running through the hallway, for both safety reasons and because in the instance of visitors, it reflects poorly on the reputation of the school,” he drawled.  “And as for you, Miss Cortez, swearing is never acceptable in a school setting.  And as a seventh year, at the very least you should be smart enough to not get caught.”

            The two girls murmured apologies and Vector seemed satisfied.

            “So, for your detention, all I want you to do is copy this,” he flicked his wand and the words ‘I will behave in the hallways,’ “ten times, and Miss Cortez, you’ll also need to copy this,” he flicked again and the words ‘I won’t scream curse words,’ “an additional five times.  This shouldn’t take long, and then we can all get back to being friends again,” Vector said, smiling a big grin.

            Sighing, Lily and Adella sat down in the front row and pulled out parchment and quills.  “This is by far the easiest detention we’ve ever gotten,” Lily whispered.  “I’ll be out of here in five minutes, and then you can take care of the rest.”

            Adella nodded, and the two worked in silence.  Sure enough, five minutes later, Lily was finished, and after handing in her lines to Vector, she departed, undoubtedly to go get Cassandra and begin her night of shameless flirting.

            And Adella, despite all of her talk, would have given anything to be in Lily’s shoes at the moment.  Staring at her professor, she couldn’t help but realize that he was twenty-two, the same age as her older brother.  And definitely ten times more attractive.

            “Don’t think about that,” she silently scolded herself.  Realizing she had finished her assignment, she rose tentatively, walking toward his desk with her trademark walk, hips swaying just enough to make any man uncomfortable.

            “Finished, Cortez?”  Vector said, eyes never leaving the beautiful girl’s face.

            She nodded, almost shyly, and handed him her paper.  “Tomorrow-“

            “Won’t be necessary,” Vector said, remembering that he had given her two nights of detention.  Although, if there was a guarantee she would dress in the same manner she was tonight, he’d reschedule that detention in a heartbeat.

            Adella hesitated, knowing she was probably expected to leave.  But she had a mission to accomplish, and Adella Cortez never screwed up an assignment.

            “I was wondering,” she started; voice a bit shaky, “did you go to school with my brother, Dino?”

            “Probably not, seeing as I didn’t attend Hogwarts.”

            “Oh,” she said.  “Well then, where did you go?”

            “I attended Durmstrang because we lived out there because of my father’s job.  My family moved back to London before my fifth year, but at that point, I had too many close friends at Durmstrang to want to change schools.  But if I had known how many pretty girls there were at Hogwarts…”  Vector stopped, eyes widening.  He could not flirt with her, she was his student.  It was morally repugnant to even think of her as a pretty girl.

            Adella blushed, silently scolding herself for acting like a stupid third year.  After all, she had hooked up with attractive older men before.  Just none that had been her professors.

            “Well, Hogwarts isn’t all that great,” Adella said, motioning around the classroom.  “Gets a bit drafty in the winter.”

            “Ever been out to Durmstrang?  The winters last forever and are so much colder than winters in Scotland.”

            Adella shuddered.  She abhorred winter, preferring to spend as much time as humanly possible on beaches in tropical locations.  “I can’t even imagine.”

            He chuckled softly.  “I’m sure you’d find ways to keep warm, if your reputation holds true.”  He raised a brow at Adella, undoubtedly waiting for her response.

            Adella merely shrugged.  “From what I’ve heard you didn’t have much trouble staying warm, either, sir.”  She met his gaze dead on.  She had no idea really, but it was impossible to imagine that he didn’t have his way with women.  After all, his light brown hair set off his tan skin perfectly, with his hazy blue eyes giving him the look of the embodiment of a Greek god.  In short, he was the first man Adella had ever seen that could take her breath away with one smile.

            “Touché, Cortez.  Just out of curiosity, do you always put your professors on the spot like this?”

            She smirked.  With the right comment, she’d have him soon.  “Only the attractive and charming ones.”

            “Oh good, so just me and Slughorn then, right?”

            “You forgot Binns.  I just love his translucent appearance.”

            The pair laughed, and suddenly they didn’t feel like teacher and student anymore.  Vector stared into the girl’s eyes, and he knew he wasn’t getting his signals confused.  And despite himself, he couldn’t really deny the attraction he felt for the younger girl.

            “Adella.”  His voice was soft and gentle, and with one look in his eyes, Adella felt her heart skip a beat.

            Without exchanging any words, Adella knew what he was asking of her.  Slowly, she nodded her head.

            And as their lips met, Adella realized she didn’t really care about those two points anymore.  In fact, she didn’t really care about earning any points ever again

.

 

~*~

 

            “Um, Sirius, can I have a word?”  Cassandra hid her hands behind her back, so that he would not see them visibly shaking.  No matter how much she hung around Lily and Adella, she would never learn to lie as easily as the pair of them did.

            “Sure, uh, honey.”  Sirius was so uncomfortable playing the role of a boyfriend he felt as though he would puke any second.  “Pull it together, Black,” he thought, shaking his head.

            He got up from his armchair and followed her to a deserted corner in the common room. 

            “I know we had plans tonight, but Lily isn’t feeling well and needs me to stay in with her.”

            The two stared at one another in silence, both highly aware that she was lying to him.  It didn’t help when five minutes later Lily skipped in, calling for Cassandra to hurry up, they had blokes waiting.

            “You’re going to help her earn snogs, aren’t you?”  Sirius asked, eyes widening.

            “Sirius-“

            “It’s not okay.  I have a very special dinner set up, and it means a lot to me that you be there.”

            Cassandra paused, looking at Lily who was giving her a firm look.

            “Cass, I am trying to be a good boyfriend here-“

            “I know, I’m sorry.  I’ll tell Lily she’s going alone, okay?”

            He kissed her cheek.  “Thank you.  I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

            Cassandra nodded, and turned from Sirius to tell Lily the change in plans.  She knew her friend wouldn’t be happy, but Sirius was right; he really was being a great boyfriend.

            Sirius watched her walk away and then returned to his armchair where James and Remus were playing Wizard’s Chess.

            “Mates, I need a bit of help.”

            “Can it wait until I’ve crushed James?” Remus asked, never taking his eyes away from the game.

            “Unless you want Owens to dump me, I need the pair of you to go into the kitchens and get those elves to set up a romantic dinner for two.  Pronto.”

            “You’re really going all out for this one, aren’t you?” James asked, looking at Sirius with wide eyes.

            “It’s all for you, Prongsie.  All for you.”

            The three shared a look, and reluctuantly Remus packed up the board.  “We’ll just go grab the cloak and be on our way then,” he said, smiling at Sirius.  “After all, you and the little missus need the best dinner Hogwarts can provide.”

            “Oh shove off and go make yourself useful.”

            The two departed, and Sirius shook his head.

            He really hated being a boyfriend.

 

~*~

 

            Lily Evans was annoyed to say the least.

            It was two in the morning and neither of her roommates had yet to come back to the dorm room.

            And as Head Girl, she had every right to be irritated.

            But as best friend, she had every right to be down right livid.

            First Cassandra ditched her for her precious new “boyfriend,” which Lily was quite positive was some sort of a hoax, seeing as Sirius Black would never go for a commitment.

            Yes, Lily had a grand time with the Ravenclaws all by herself, but that was so not the point.  Cassandra should have been with her, earning a couple more points as well.

            Lily was making the most of her ten days, gaining six snogs alone on just the first night.  It wouldn’t be long now until she beat James and proved once and for all how far she was willing to go to avoid being his girlfriend.

            But what really had her confused was Adella’s whereabouts.  True, Adella often kept different hours than Lily and Cassandra, but she had always had the decency to give a heads up when she thought she’d be in late.

            Lily wanted to find her friends and bring them back to the dorm room, if for no other reason than to ensure they weren’t getting caught and losing points from Gryffindor.

            And as Head Girl, she could simply patrol the hallways until she found them.  But she wasn’t about to stroll around in the middle of the night by herself.  Oh no, if she was going to be up half the night looking for her friends, James Potter would be there with her, if for no other reason than because she was positive it would irritate him.

            “Potter, psst, Potter!”  She whispered into his dorm room.  She heard a bit of movement inside, so she continued to call for him.

            Finally after several moments, James padded to the door, bleary eyed and clothed only from the waist down.

            “Evans, it is two in the morning, what the bloody hell do you want?”

            “There are students out of bed and as the Head Students we have to find them!”

            James groaned, rubbing his eyes.  “Who is it?”

            “Adella and Cassandra, which means Sirius is probably out as well.”

            He sighed, putting up his index finger to signal he needed a moment, and returned after a couple of minutes with his robe and wand.  “We’ll look for ten minutes.  They’re all big kids, so if we can’t find them by two thirteen, they are on their own, okay?”

            Lily nodded, following him out of the common room into the vast, dark castle.

            They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, when James finally spoke.  “Why did you wake me?  You’re perfectly capable of patrolling on your own.”

            “I’m a bit scared of the dark, alright?  And anyway this is a shared responsibility…”

            “Just like all of our responsibilities are, right?”  James cut in dryly.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “Well, we’ve certainly done a stand-up job of avoiding working together so far-“

            “We’ve worked together plenty!”

  
            “We collaborate on the meetings, yes, but everything else is you do this, I do that, and it takes about twice as long as it should.”

            Lily sighed.  Damn, she hated when he was right.  “I know.  It’s just so hard seeing you as anything but the opposition.”

            “Years of undermining authority does give one a bit of a reputation,” James said fairly, and even though it was dark, Lily knew he was smiling.  “But seriously, for the Halloween feast, let’s work on that together, okay?”

            “Deal.”  Lily said, holding out her hand for him to shake, but then feeling silly because it was too dark to see much of anything.

            Much to her surprise though, James grabbed her hand and shook it, holding on for a bit too long.

            The two walked in a slightly awkward silence for a while, when James once again spoke.  “So how was the Ravenclaw common room?”

            “James…”

            “I’m just curious.  I may be racing you in snogs so that I can go out with you when all is said in done, but we can be friendly about it, you know.”

            Lily sighed, feeling uncomfortable.  “It was fine.”

            “Good to know.”

            “James, can I ask you something?”

            “Depends.”

            “Why are you willing to go so far just to be my boyfriend?”

            He was quiet for a while, considering what to say.  “I don’t know, really.  I guess you’re just the total package, and I know that despite what you say, you really do like me, deep down inside.  I know I could be really good for you, if you’d only give me a chance.  And if this is what I have to do to get that chance…” He trailed off, jumping in front of Lily as they heard a noise.

            “Can I see you tomorrow?” a man’s voice said, coming from an empty classroom.

            “Yes, of course,” a girl’s voice answered, one the pair both recognized instantly.  “I’ll just lie to friends.”

            “Would they not be cool with this?  Because if they find out and decide to tattle on us, we both could be in tons of trouble…”

            “The timing isn’t the best.  But I’ll handle it.  I want this to work.  So if lyings what it takes-“

            “Technically you don’t have to lie.  You do have detention tomorrow, remember?”

            The girl giggled.  “Silly me.  See you tomorrow in class.”

            “Goodnight.”

            Lily and James stood in silence as the girl slipped past them, humming softly and skipping in the dark back to her common room.

            “Was that-“ James asked.

            “Yes.”

            “And was he-“

            “Uh huh.”

            “Did you know-“

            “It was supposed to be a one time thing.” Lily answered with finality.  “Let’s go back to the common room now so she can lie to me about her oh-so _causal_ fling.”

            James nodded, a bit unsure what to say.

            He just had a very strong feeling that the ranks within the Gryffindor seventh year girls were about to change drastically.

            And from where he was standing, that could really only help him in the end.

 


	8. Dirty Dealings

**Author's Note:** Wow.  After the response from the last chapter, I deffinitely couldn't resist updating so soon.  You all are amazing, and your reviews make me want to keep writing this.  But enough of my gushing, here's the thing.  I realize now that this story is most deffinitely becoming AU.  I've tried staying in realms of cannon so far, but it is becoming more and more difficult.  I'm trying though, so bear with me if something isn't exactly as it should be. Okay?? Great.  So without further ado, chapter eight... 

**I'm not ready to make nice,**

****

  
I'm not ready to back down,

  
I'm still mad as hell

  
And I don't have time

  
To go round and round and round

  
It's too late to make it right

  
I probably wouldn't if I could

  
Cause I'm mad as hell

  
Can't bring myself to do what it is

  
You think I should

  
 

-Dixie Chicks

 

**Chapter Eight** : Dirty Dealings

 

 

 

            “Someone looks a bit tired this morning,” Remus Lupin drawled taking in Sirius’s tired eyes the next morning during breakfast.  Moments later, James plopped down in the seat across from him, causing the boy to smirk further.  “Or rather, two somebodies look a bit tired.  Lasses keep you blokes out all night?”

            Sirius smirked while James blushed slightly.

            “I was with Cassandra,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, showing it was no big deal.

            “I was with Lily,” James said, trying and failing to appear nonchalant.

            “What?”  Peter, Remus and Sirius cried at once, clearly thinking their best mate had finally snogged the girl of his dreams.

            “Relax, we were merely searching for the hallways for her lost roommates and this horse’s hind end right here,” he said motioning to Sirius.

            “Bugger, thought the pair of you had finally gotten somewhere,” Peter said, smiling sympathetically.

            “No worries, I think I’m growing on her.  We talked quite a bit, so it’s progress nonetheless.”

            The boys nodded, and shoveled pancakes into their mouths for a couple of moments when Remus broke the silence.

            “Padfoot, you gonna shag Owens?”

            The question hung in the air for a few moments while Sirius considered this.

            “No,” he finally said, shaking his head.  “She’s not the shagging type.  I mean, she was with Gavin Thompson for nearly two years and he didn’t get any.  She’ll be a virgin until she marries, and I’m not about to take it away from her.  Plus, she’s not really my cup of tea.”

            The boys chuckled as they watched their friend stare at Adella Cortez who had just sauntered in and was rushing to join Lily and Cassandra who were seated on the other end of the table.

            “Good luck with that one,” James said, shaking his head as Sirius continued to watch her back, undoubtedly looking at her backside.

            “After all, he’s been trying to shag her for the better part of a year, why should she change her mind now?” Peter said, earning a scathing look from Sirius.

            “It’s not just that anymore,” James said, deciding to tell his mates about what he had discovered the night before.

            “Don’t tell me she’s taken a vow of chastity,” Remus said, laughing at the thought.

            “Quite the opposite, Moony.  While Lily and I were looking for her last night, we heard her having a very interesting conversation with a certain person,” James said, looking around him to make sure that no one was listening.

            “Who?”  Sirius asked, eyes growing wide.  “Don’t tell me she’s decided she’s into girls!”

            “No!” James said, throwing a muffin at his friend.  “She’s seeing the Arithmancy professor!”

            “Vector?” Peter asked, eyes growing wide.  He was in that class with Adella and could count on one hand the amount of times the pair had interacted so far in the school year.

            “Yes!  I heard them last night, saying that they want to make their ‘relationship’ work, and how she has detention tonight and she’s going to see him again then!”

            “You’re joking me, right?  There’s no way-“ Remus started.

            “It was part of a plan to earn double points for a snog, but I guess Cortez got more than she bargained for,” James said, leaning back into his chair and folding his hands above his head.  “Anyway, Lily’s furious because Adella told Vector she has absolutely no intention of telling her friends.  I’ll bet my new broomstick she’s over there lying to them right now.”

            The four boys sat in silence for a moment as the wheels turned and finally clicked into place.

            “You do realize what this means then, don’t you?”  Sirius said, still shocked, but already beginning to see the potential benefits in this turn of events.

            Three heads nodded simultaneously.

            “Cortez has taken herself out of the game,” Remus said, eyes widening with the realization.

            Things had never looked better for the boys’ team.

 

~*~

 

            “And then we just snogged, and I have to say, it was very nice to finally find a decent snogging partner,” Adella said, putting on her best confident smile.

            “Is that why you were out until past two in the morning?”  Lily said, eyes narrowing suspiciously.  She knew Adella was lying, and was growing more and more irritated by her friend’s act.

            “Uh huh,” Adella said, not meeting Lily’s eye, but instead choosing to reach for the juice.

            “Interesting.  So what are your plans for tonight?  Because I happen to know that a chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team fancies a snog from you,” Lily said, throwing the bait out there.  She really wouldn’t be too angry if Adella just came clean now.

            “Can’t, I have detention again.  And after talking with Vector last night a bit about my grade, I’ve realized I need some tutoring in Arithmancy.”

            A pause.

            “I’ll tutor you,” Lily said with finality, knowing that Adella was perfectly fine in Arithmancy.

            “I’ve already accepted Vector’s offer.”

            “Well, tell him today in class that you decided it would be more convenient for me to tutor you instead.”

            “We’ve already set up a schedule through the end of October.  Maybe after then you can tutor me instead.”

            ‘”Whatever,” Lily snapped, putting down her fork.  She just wasn’t hungry anymore.  “Cassandra, walk with me to Transfiguration?”

            “We could probably wait for Adella,” Cassandra said, realizing that something was terribly wrong between her two best friends, but not clearly understanding what it was.

            “I need to talk to McGonnagal, and since we’re both finished already…”

            “Just go, I’ll meet you in there,” Adella said, her tone icy.

            “Fine,” Lily said, meeting her eye.

            “Fine.”  Adella repeated, watching as Lily power walked out of the Great Hall, Cassandra at her heels looking thoroughly confused.

            “She knows,” Adella said to no one in particular.

            And if she knew one thing about Lily Evans, it was that she punished lying to the fullest extent of the social law at Hogwarts.

            Which in simple terms meant it would be all over campus by noon.

            “Shit,” she said, pushing her food aside.

            It was time to take action.

 

 

~*~

 

            The morning was surprisingly warm, despite the fact that it was quickly approaching mid-October, and so, during morning break, Lily and Cassandra made their way outside to sit underneath their favorite oak tree and relax for the half hour they didn’t have classes.

            Like all the other seventh years, the pair was preparing to take the NEWT’s come year’s end, and with an increase in class work, plus the burden of the game, they could not remember a time when they had been more exhausted.

            “When’s that essay due again?”  Cassandra asked, referring to the potions essay that had been assigned last week.

            “Tomorrow,” Lily said, sighing.  She had finished hers two nights ago but was altogether quite unsatisfied with it.

            “Bugger.  Looks like I’m pulling another all-nighter,” Cassandra said, yawning, unable to make herself alert after her late night.

            “Just promise me you’ll stay in the common room tonight so I don’t have to go looking for you,” Lily said, smiling softly.

            “I am sorry about that, you know.”

            “I know.  At least you have the decency to apologize,” Lily said, feeling irritated by Adella.

            “What’s going on with her?”  Cassandra said, sounding concerned.

            “Who knows?  I imagine she’ll tell us soon enough,” Lily said, shaking her head slightly.  “Anyway, I want to hear about your date with Sirius.”

            Cassandra smiled, blushing slightly.  “He had this big romantic dinner set up in the kitchens, complete with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert,” she said, sighing at the memory.  “Then we walked by the lake and sat down by those rocks until we both fell asleep.  By the time we woke up, it was one thirty and we started making our way back to the common room.  Of course, there were a couple of distractions on the way…”  She trailed off, allowing Lily to fill in the blanks for herself.

            “Distractions?  Is that what you kids are calling it now days?”  Lily smirked, watching Cassandra’s blush deepen.  “So you’re really, erm, serious about him then?”

            “I don't know. Not really, I guess.  It’s just nice to have a bloke take me out again.”

            “Just be careful, Cass, okay?  Cause we both know he has a nasty habit of hurting girls, okay?”

            Cassandra nodded, knowing her friend was right.  “He seems different this time.  But I’ll be careful, I promise.”

            Lily nodded, satisfied.  “Alright, I must be off.”

            “Where to?”  Cassandra asked, knowing Lily was off for a snog.

            “Meeting Byron Keeling.  I’ll see you at lunch!”

            “Bye!”  Cassandra called, watching as Lily ran off.

            She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she remembered that she too had a meeting with a bloke for a snog.

            Sighing, she got up, regretting more and more everyday that she had agreed to this ridiculous game, and more importantly, that she had agreed to snog this particular bloke.

            She got up, dusted the grass off her skirt, and began walking toward the doors that led to the school, already seeing his familiar figure in the distance.

            He smiled as he watched her approach, eyes flickering with anticipation.

            “Cass,” he whispered as he put an arm around her waist, pulling her in.  “I’ve really missed you.”

            She felt her heart melt.

            No one could make her feel the way that Gavin Thompson did.  She smiled, relaxing at the familiarity of his touch, allowing him to kiss her mouth.

            She was home.

 

~*~

 

 

_Sirius-_

_  
_

_I need to speak to you after class._

_  
_

_Please meet me by outside the Charms corridor._

_  
_

_Come alone._

_  
_

_And Black, don’t get your hopes up.  We’ll only be conversing._

_  
_

_-Adella_

_  
___

 

            Sirius felt a knot in his stomach grow as he read the parchment passed to him during History of Magic.  Glancing around to see if anyone else noticed, he was pleased to observe that James was staring at Evans as though she had the cure to the common cold written on the back of her head, Remus was diligently taking notes, and Peter was out cold.

            Likewise, Lily was taking notes while Cassandra seemed buried in her own thoughts.  Only Adella seemed to be watching him intently, waiting for a reaction.

            He nodded.

            She seemed to relax visibly, turning her head away from him.  He noticed a hickey on her neck and chuckled softly.

            Apparently Vector liked to mark his territory.

            Glancing at Cassandra again, he noticed her sigh, turn her head, meet his eye and then smile, and turn away again.  But what he saw made his heart stop beating.

            She too had a hickey.

            And he had definitely not given her that.

            Had she really cheated on him?

            Not that he cared all that much.  But really.  _She_ had cheated on _him?_

__

            The idea was absurd, yet there was really no denying it.

            “Whatever,” he said softly to himself.  “Just means I can dump her and be done with it now.”  After all, now that Cortez was a goner, there was no need to string along poor little Owens.

            It was for the best anyway.

            Moments later class ended, and he quickly packed up his things, eager to meet Cortez and go to dinner.

            As the last class of the day, History of Magic was unbearable, but when he was hungry, it was always ten times worse.

            When he finally got to the Charms corridor, Cortez was already there, pacing nervously.

            “Thank you for meeting me,” Adella said, biting her lower lip.

            “No problem.  What’s going on?”  Sirius asked, wondering what she could possibly want with him.

            “I need a favor.  You see, I’m kind of in this situation with Lily right now because I sort of got involved with this guy and-“

            “Let’s save both of ourselves time and energy, Cortez.  I know about you and Vector.  I know Lily’s mad as hell at you because of your alleged relationship.  What I don’t know is what the hell you want with me.”

            “Um, well…”

            “Do you want to go snog?  Or better yet, shag?  I have found that doing one of those often helps to take the awkwardness out of situations like these.  And if you want to, just say the word and I can make all your dreams come true,” Sirius said cheekily, knowing this would help to loosen her up, but despite himself hoping she would, by some miracle, agree to this proposal.

            “Merlin no!” she cried in disgust.  “I need your help keeping Lily silent!  And your friends too, for that matter, since they apparently know as well-“

            “Don’t worry about my friends.  They won’t say a word.  But Evans, that’s an entirely different matter.  How do you propose I do that?”

            Adella smirked.  “That, my dear boy, is entirely up to your discretion.  After all, I’ve heard you can be quite sly in situations like this.  It shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”

            Sirius smiled, already forming a plan.  “How’s this sound?”

            Slowly, Adella bent forward and allowed Sirius to whisper in her ear.  Her eyes widened in shock, and after he was finished telling her his idea, she backed away, looking impressed.

            “Perfect.  Undoubtedly she’ll know I’m behind this somehow, but I don’t think it’s really going to matter.  Sirius Black, I think you may just be a genius.”

            Sirius chuckled.  “There’s just one more thing, Cortez,” he said, figuring out a way to spin this in his favor as well.  “If I do this and you keep your little romance with Vector, I want something in return.”

            “Yeah?  And what’s that?”

            “To shag you senseless.”

            Adella paused, weighing the options.  The last thing in the world she wanted was to shag Sirius Black.  The idea of his hands touching her skin…she shuddered.  Last night she had decided to turn over a new leaf and be with David Vector, and only him.  It had been one night, but in that night, Adella had felt something stronger than anything she could have ever imagined.

            But if shagging Sirius was what it would take to allow her to give her feelings for David a chance, then so be it.  Sirius would be her last on-the-side fling.

            Slowly she nodded, feeling a sick knot lodge its way into her stomach.

            “Deal.”

            “Pleasure doing business, love,” Sirius said, shaking her hand and walking away from her, smile a mile wide.

            Adella watched him walk away, feeling hot tears gather in her eyes.

            “Stop it.  Sometimes you have to crash and burn in order to rise from the ashes,” she scolded herself.

            Wiping her tears, she smiled.

            Everything was going to be just fine.

            Sirius would make sure Lily kept quiet, which in return would allow her and David to keep their relationship on the down low.  In return, all Sirius was asking for was one night.

            And if he could do the dirty work and keep Lily quiet and ensure that Adella could be happy in the end, didn’t he deserve some sort of reward?

 

~*~

 

 

            “Has she confessed yet?”  James asked Lily.  It was the next night, before the prefects meeting and the two had arrived ten minutes early to plan the meeting.

            It had taken all of three minutes for the planning, with the rest of the time devoted to casual conversation.

            “Like she would,” Lily said, allowing her irritation spill out in her voice.

            “What are you going to do?”

            “I’m not going to spread the rumor around, if that’s what you mean.  I’m not a bad friend, Potter.  If they want to keep this affair hush-hush, then fine.  Far be it from me to ruin this, especially if it’s so important to her.”

            James inclined his head a bit, impressed.  Lily had been so furious with Adella the night before he had been positive she would allow the news to spread like wildfire.

            “That’s very decent of you, Lily.”

            “Why, thank you.”

            The two lapsed into a comfortable silence, and James was suddenly struck with a thought.

            “But what about-“

            “The game?  Yeah, I haven’t figured out how I am going to keep her snogging while she has a ‘boyfriend’ or whatever he is to her.  But I’ve been thinking, and you know what, if Adella wants Vector and Cass wants Sirius, then I’m not going to allow my intentions to interfere with their happiness.”

            “Even if it means their happiness will interfere with your own,” James stated, testing the water out.  There was a bit of hope growing in his chest, much like a balloon.

            “Time will tell, I suppose,” Lily said, a smile sneaking up on the corners of her mouth.

            James smiled, stealing a look at Lily as the prefects began to wander in.  And for the first time in a long while, he felt as though maybe he stood a fighting chance.  


 


	9. Cards on the Table

**Author's Note:** So i lied.  I had every intention of abandoning this fic.  My personal life was in chaos, but thankfully, things have calmed down a great bit.  I had everything in order, but there was this little tiny nagging in my brain, and until i sat down at the computer two days ago and began to think about hypothetically what would happen next in The Snogging Game, i could not figure out what was bugging me.  So i wrote this little chapter right here, and voila!  Chapter Nine was born and the nagging went away.  I do hope you enjoy, but since i am in the middle of a very difficult semester at school, i can't promise quick updates. Bear with me.  I'm trying.  So enjoy.  It's going in a slightly different direction, but change, as i'm finding, can be very good.

_Maybe I'm a little bit over my head_

_I come undone at the things he said_

_And he's so funny in his bright red shirt_

_We were all in love and we all got hurt_

_I sneak into his car's black leather seat_

_The smell of gasoline in the summer heat_

_Boy, we're going way too fast_

_It's all too sweet to last_

 -Vanessa Carlton, “White Houses”  

 

**Chapter Nine: Cards on the Table**

     Lily Evans smiled.   

         It was a rare occurrence these days that she would allow herself to really smile, and laugh, and overall enjoy the rare few happy moments in her life.            It was the stress of the game.  She could never remember a time in her life when she, Adella, and Cassie had been so at odds with one another. 

           She was beginning to believe that the bond between the Marauders was far to strong for their little group to overcome.          

  After all, they were practically brothers.  And while she and the other girls werebest friends, she didn’t quite know if they were as close as the brotherhood of the Marauders.    

        She looked at her current source of amusement, one James Potter, who was arguing with Severus Snape in a completely humorous fashion.  

          They were in Potions, and today, Lily found herself paired up with James.  She really had no idea how exactly this happened, but she went with it.    

        After all, her other alternatives were Adella, the traitor, or Cassandra, the clueless.  Adella would simply freeze her out, while Cass would merely grill her about the “Adella situation” for eighty straight minutes.    

        So when James had beckoned, “Oy! Evans!  Partner with me today?” she had shocked the room by nodding eagerly and rushing over, something she was quite glad she had decided to do now as she watched the argument unfold.      

      “Yes, Severus, it may be true that whitey tighties are more practical in many ways, but boxers are much more comfortable,” James said, his face doing a scary impression of McGonagall.  How James would speak of underwear to Severus Snape with a straight face was highly impressive to Lily.    

        “Potter I refuse to allow this conversation to go on any further.  My underwear is none of your business,” Snape said, a dull blush creeping up his neck.     

       “I was simply inquiring.  I really just needed your opinion, because a lot of the guys are switching to briefs, but I think boxers just provide more room, you know?”    

        “Potter, I’m warning you-“      

      “Seriously, I need your opinion.  I’ve asked just about everyone else and I can’t reach a consensus.”     

       Lily laughed as Snape pounded his fist on his table.  “Boxers, Potter!  Okay?  Now will you leave me alone?”     

       James smiled.  “Why thank you, Snapey, my dear friend.  I will stick to my boxers no matter how comfortable Sirius claims thong to be.”       

     At this point Lily could really no longer contain her laughter.  “I can’t believe you got him to answer,” she said, giggling.       

     “I’ve found that if you irritate him just enough, he gives in, if for no other reason than to get you to shut up.”      

      Lily smiled.  James looked at her, enjoying that instead of yelling at him for inappropriate discussions with Snape, she was instead seeing the humor.  Had this occurred a few months ago, he was sure he’d be getting an ear full right now.           

 “Shall we get started on the potion then?” she asked lightheartedly.      

      “I suppose we need to be a bit productive today.  And anyway I don’t think Snape’ll appreciate my questioning his opinion on shampoos much,” James said, smirking slightly.     

       Lily laughed again, not for the first time wondering when exactly she stopped finding him so insufferable.

~*~

          

  Sirius watched the scene unfold between Lily and James, seeing the look of exuberance on James’ face.  He was growing on her, no doubt, which was pretty much making the whole point of this game void.

            He focused all of his energy on them, waiting for the bell to ring so he could strike.  Blackmailing Lily would be especially easy as she was in such a fantastic mood today.

            When the period finally did end, Sirius quickly left the room, slinking through the crowd to catch up with Lily.  He finally reached her, and deciding to go the route of complete surprise, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby corridor, which was thankfully empty.

            “Sirius what in the bloody hell-“ she said, looking quite irritated.

            “I’ll do the talking, Evans, thank you very much,” he said, hoping he was being intimidating.

            She looked at him, raising a brow in suspicion.

            “You’re not going to tell anyone about Adella Cortez’s fling with Professor Vector,” he said flatly, leaving no room for questioning.  He liked playing the hard-ass, and he was quite sure he was doing a wonderful job of it.

            That is until she said, “Of course I’m not,” like it was the most obvious statement in the world.

            “Sorry, what?” he asked, clearly confused.

            “I said I wasn’t going to-“

            “I heard you, but what the hell?  This was going to be great fun blackmailing you into silence and all.  You’ve just ruined all my fun, Evans.”

            “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’d never do that to Adella.  I’m not thrilled with her right now, but my lips are still going to be sealed to keep her safe.  Why would you think any differently?”

            Sirius didn’t answer, instead shrugging and backing away.

            Sometimes he believed that luck was really on his side.

~*~

            It had been a long couple of weeks and when the snogs were tallied, the game was tight.  Lily and James were within a snog of one another, while Cassandra, Adella, and Sirius all had less than fifteen left to go.  Remus needed five more, but with the full moon would be prolonged for three or four days, while Peter still needed eight until he would be finished.

            It was still anyone’s game, and Lily knew that, but sometimes she really wondered if it was worth it.

            After all, her friendships were falling apart, and with less than a year left at Hogwarts, she preferred to leave with Adella and Cassandra by her side instead of at her throat.

            And so, she decided to make a risky move.

            “We are not snogging tonight,” she said as she entered the dorm room where Cassandra was painting her nails and Adella was flipping through Witch Weekly.

            “Why not?  Isn’t this crunch time, or whatever?” Adella asked, clearly uninterested.

            “That may be, but I think we need a girl’s night in,” Lily suggested, hoping the other two would go for it.

            Cassandra immediately perked up, looking relieved.  “Thank god!  It’s been way too long.  I feel like we never see one another anymore.”

            Adella shifted uncomfortably.  “I can’t tonight,” she said softly.

            Lily sighed.  “Vector?” she asked trying desperately to reach out to her best friend.

            Adella colored.  She too sighed, biting her lip.  “So you do know.  But no, it’s not him I’m seeing tonight.  I’m-“she sighed again.  “I’m so sorry Cass.  And to you too, Lily.  This will probably all make sense in a minute, especially because of a certain conversation you had earlier this week, Lils, but-“

            “Hold on a minute,” Lily said, eyes growing wide.  “Sirius?”

            Adella didn’t answer, and Cassandra’s face mimicked Lily’s in shock and disgust.

            “You were meeting with my boyfriend tonight?”

            “It was his reward for blackmailing Lily into silence about David.  I was so worried you were going to blab, Lily, I got desperate and called in Sirius for backup, which I now totally regret, because he said he’d do it, but only if I shagged him after, and-“ Adella collapsed into tears.  “I really don’t want to shag Sirius Black, especially over David Vector.”

            Lily and Cassandra stared at each other, eyes both growing wide.  For a moment, Lily thought Cassandra looked irate, but she soon saw another emotion cloud her face: pity.

            Lily felt herself soften.  Adella had finally come clean, which was really all she ever wanted.

            “But you and Vector-“she stared to ask, extremely confused.

            “Look, I weighed my options.  On one hand, I have this guy, who is nice, but let’s be honest, really only wants me for one thing.  And on the other hand, I have my best friends in the whole world who are totally relying on me.”  She pretended her hands were a balance, going up and down until the “friends” balance was higher.  “It was a done deal.  But I figured all that out too late and then Sirius bought your silence-“

            “No he didn’t.  Adella, I wasn’t going to tell,” Lily said, voice growing a bit higher in exasperation.

            “So you mean-“

            “You were about to get screwed over, both figuratively and literally,” Cassandra supplied, shaking her head.  “He’s scum.  Complete scum.”

            “I should go down there right now and kick his ass!”  Adella said, standing up on her bed, face looking defiant.

            “Me too!”  Cassandra said, also jumping up, accidentally knocking over her bottle of nail polish.

            Lily laughed a bit but also jumped up.  “You know I’m in as well, then!”             The three girls gave each other one final group hug, and then made their way down into the Gryffindor common room with more than just the common goal of murdering Sirius Black.

            They had each other again.

~*~

            The three Gryffindor seventh year girls were terrifying when they were not only collectively angry, but also hell-bent on revenge, James had noted throughout the years, and tonight, as they stormed the common room in identical looks of rage, he knew someone was really, really in for it.

            He was fairly confident he was safe from their wrath, however, years of pranking them senseless had always caused him to be on edge when they thundered down the stairs.

            There was no doubt; Lily was by far the worst.  Blame it on her red-head temper or Irish roots; it didn’t really matter.  When Lily Evans was angry, as she was now, he knew that was a really bad sign.

            So one could imagine his feelings of panic when he saw her scan the almost empty room, and when her eyes landed on him, they narrowed dangerously as she made her way to him.

            “James Potter!”

            “I didn’t do it!”

            “We know,” Cassandra said, her tone icy.

            Well that was new.  Cassandra was perpetually nice.  She never got angry and was often pulling Lily back from whomever insulted her in order to minimize the amount of danger Lily was probably putting the offender in.

            James shifted uncomfortably.

            “Where in the bloody hell is Sirius Black?”  Adella Cortez asked through gritted teeth.  She was the medium between Lily and Cassandra.  Never quite as passionate as Lily, and never as soothing as Cassandra, she would often throw insults while preventing Lily from performing serious trauma.

            Because when Lily was angry, she could make a person feel like killing themselves, which was why she’d make such a kick-ass auror.

            James pointed to the portrait of the Fat Lady.  “He’s in the Great Hall finishing supper,” James said, almost daring to smile from relief.

            “Let’s go,” Lily said, clearly seething.

            James followed as they traveled in silence to the Great Hall.  He could hardly believe they were going to do this in front of the entire school.  Whatever Sirius had done must have been very, very bad if it warranted public humiliation.

            As the three girls reached the closed door into the Great Hall, James noticed for a brief second that Lily hesitated.

            “Ready?”

            “Hell yes,” Adella affirmed.

            “Do the talking, Lils,” Cassandra said, smiling for a moment, then realizing James was in tow grew serious.  “You’ve got a way with words in these situations.”

            Lily tilted her head back and laughed a bit, feeling her adrenaline pump.

            “Here we go,” Lily said, smile gone.

            James stopped just inside the door, wanting to watch but not look as if he were directly involved.  The three girls marched between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables, ignoring the catcalls from many of the guys.  They had their eyes firmly fixed on their target, and soon, the whole hall recognized they were going in for a kill.

            Everyone that is, except Sirius Black, who was blissfully unaware that the Great Hall was growing silent, and talking happily about Quidditch to Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.

            “So I think if they just train they’re keeper up a bit, the Irish will be in fantastic shape for the World Cup,” he said, nodding his head with excitement.

            Peter’s eyes grew fearfully wide as he noticed the three girls, not even five feet away at this point.

            “Padfoot-“he whispered, growing nervous.

            “What?  Do you think they need to work on their chasers as well?”  Sirius asked, tilting his head.  “Cause that would be my other suggestion and-“

            “Sirius if I were you I’d bloody shut my mouth and not speak again for a good ten minutes, alright?”  Remus said, sharply, inclining his head to the three girls.

            Sirius turned around and saw them, impressive even for three young women of smaller stature.

            “I always knew you were the smart one, Remus,” Cassandra said, smiling sweetly.  Too sweetly.

            Lily’s eyes narrowed dangerous.  “Who in the bloody hell do you think you are, Black?”

            Sirius almost answered.  Almost.  But then he remembered Remus’ advice and kept his mouth shut.

            “How dare you attempt to blackmail me, trick one of my friends into sleeping with you, and on top of all that, be dating my other best friend at the same time!  You are pathetic, Black, if you think we were dumb enough to not figure this out.  I mean we bloody live together.  We speak everyday, which makes your plan impossible.  Girls talk!  They gossip!  How could have you forgotten that?!”  Lily shrieked.  Sirius’ eyes grew wide for only a brief second.

            Then, he smirked.  It was dangerous to act so nonchalant when Lily Evans was angry at you, but his mother had a worse temper than even Lily.

            “I wasn’t going to go through with it,” he said simply, shrugging.  “I couldn’t do that to any of you, to be honest.  You might be the three biggest pains in my ass since my darling mother, but I was raised with a certain sense of decency, ladies.

            His words were met with silence.  All eyes were on Lily to see her reaction.

            Lily stared for a moment.  “Oh.  Well, even still, it was a low-down thing you did, Black, and there should be consequences for your actions.”

            “Allow me to suggest one for you, Evans.  We’ll forfeit.  I feel like a total asshole for what I’ve done, but honestly, we’ve been playing dirty since the beginning, so maybe that should be our collective punishment.”

            The girls were silent.  The talking in the Great Hall resumed quickly, as it became clear that there would be no fight tonight.

            “Give us a sec to confer, alright?” Cassandra  asked, all smiles.

            “Take what he’s offering you.  It’s worth it, and you don’t have to date Potter or snog anymore blokes,” Cass whispered fiercely, as they turned their backs on the boys.

            “I agree one hundred percent,” Adella said.

            Lily hesitated.  They would win the game if she took the offer.  She knew even James wouldn’t argue with the settlement because he too was raised with more chivalry than was healthy.  This was what Lily had always wanted.  A Potter-free existence.  But yet-

            She turned on her heel and faced Black square in the face.

            “No deal.”

            “What?”  Her friends, as well as James’ (as well as James who had since walked over to join the group) chorused.

            “I said no deal.”

            “But-“

            “Let’s just drop it,” Lily said, giving the group a sharp look.  “Just seriously let it go.  Let’s take the weekend off, and resume Monday, alright?”

            Lily immediately turned on her heel and began leaving the Great Hall in favor of her dorm room, where she would hopefully be able to avoid questioning from the boys at least for the night.

            As James watched her go, his face lit up with a grin.

            “Any day now she’ll profess her love to me,” he said, only half-kidding.

            At that Cassandra and Adella exchanged looks, not so sure they could truthfully deny that statement any longer.

            


	10. Drawing Conclusions

**Author's Note:**   I've had this ready to update for a couple of days now,  but i finally got around to it today.  So sorry about the wait.  Here's chapter ten, which is wow, because i never thought i'd stick with this fic for so long.  I'd also like to say i'm truly honored that this story is up for an Hourglass Award.  Thank you.  And also, because this chapter is taking the story in a new direction, i'm really going to have to ask for any reviewers to avoid flaming.  If you really think it is such total crap that you have nothing good to say about this fic, please do both of us a favor and just stop reading it.  However, i do love constructive criticism or encouragement.  Just not flames. haha okay enough rambling, on to chapter ten.

**_Do I attract you?_ **

**_Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?_ **

**_Am I too dirty?_ **

**_Am I too flirty?_ **

**_Do I like what you like?_ **

**_I could be wholesome_ **

**_I could be loathsome_ **

**_I guess I’m a little bit shy_ **

**_Why don’t you like me?_ **

**_Why don’t you like me without making me try?_ **

**Mika “Grace Kelly _”_**

****

**Chapter Ten: Drawing Conclusions**

            Lily was pacing back in forth in her dormitory, mind racing.

            Had she really done what she just thought she had done?  Was she really continuing with this madness?  Why?  Why was she continuing with the game?

            Her breathing suddenly got heavy and she could feel herself panting.  Suddenly the room felt very hot.

            She thought of Adella and Cassandra’s shocked faces.  Cassandra’s was full of genuine surprise, while Adella had looked almost horrified.

            The night had been so topsy-turvy.  Memories from the night flooded back into her brain.

            Adella confessing everything, Sirius claiming he wasn’t planning on sleeping with Adella, the three girls making amends…and James.

            James.  At the thought of his face, Lily felt herself needing to sit down.  She knew what it felt like to be head over heels for someone, but this was not the feeling.  This was the so over-her-head type of feeling she had not gotten since before her O.W.L’s in fifth year when she had gone three straight days without sleep in order to study.  It was the same panic and frustration.

            “I’m merely over-worked,” she said aloud, her voice shaky.  “That’s all this is.  I’ve bitten off quite more than I can chew and I need to relax.  Chalk this one up to deliriousness, Lily, and go right out there and tell them all you’ve changed your mind.  Tell Sirius you want them to forfeit the game and cheer as you watch James walk out of your life forever.”

            She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, but suddenly she felt her heart sink.  Watch James walk out of your life forever.  It hung in the air like a gunshot.

            Watch James walk out of your life forever.  She stood up from her bed, willing her legs to move so she could walk to the door.

            She couldn’t move.

            “Oh dear,” she said, suddenly understanding everything.  Just like that, everything clicked into place.

            _Suddenly she was eleven years old again, sitting on the back porch with her mother, the day before she was to start Hogwarts._

_“Lily,” she remembered her mother saying, rather seriously.  “You’re starting a totally new chapter of your life tomorrow, young lady.”_

_“I know, Mom,” Lily had answered, eyes growing wide with anticipation._

_“I don’t just mean this Hogwarts stuff, you know.  I mean after tomorrow, you’ll almost be on your own.  Don’t get me wrong, your father and I are by no means abandoning you.  It’s just that unlike it was for Petunia, I won’t be there to meet your new friends, your teachers, or eventually, your boyfriends.”_

_Lily laughed.  “I’m never going to have a boyfriend, Mom!  I will forever be free!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air._

_Mrs. Evan’s laughed.  “Humor me and suppose for a moment that you do eventually find a boy that you fancy, but also allows you to feel free.  Would you go around with him?”_

_Lily thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded her head.  “I guess.”_

_“Alright, then listen.  I’m not going to be there to tell you if I think that boy is worth your time.  So you’ll be completely on your own, which isn’t such a bad thing, come to think of it.”_

_“But Mom, how will I know?”_

_Mrs. Evans smiled.  “He’ll make you feel like its okay to give up everything you've ever known, because he'll be right there beside you, giving everything up as well.  You’ll do things you never imagined doing.”_

_“Like what?” Lily asked, suddenly quite interested._

_“Well, I knew I loved your father when I agreed to leave_ _Ireland_ _and move to_ _England_ _with him.  I had always sworn that_ _Ireland_ _was the only land worth living in.  But I left, merely because your father had asked me to.”_

            Lily swallowed hard.  Why exactly had she agreed to the game in the first place? She thought back to the day on the train.

            To get rid of James, her mind immediately answered.  But suddenly, she wasn’t so sure that was the whole reason.

            She knew if her mother were here, she would be telling Lily to open her eyes.  Clearly, she had feelings for James.  And from the way she had been acting, they were deep ones. She was doing things she had never imagined doing because this whole game went against her entire up-bringing.  Suddenly, Lily felt like she was about to throw up.

            “Why did I agree to this silly game?” she asked out loud, hitting her head with her palm.

            And then, she knew the answer.

            Because James had challenged her to.

            It was too much.  She needed to get out of the dormitory, out of the castle all together.  Quickly, she grabbed her cloak and raced down the stairs out of the girl’s dormitory, not noticing the rest of the Gryffindor seventh years huddled together in conspiracy.  Likewise, they did not see her.

            She rushed to the Portrait of the Fat Lady and pushed her way into the hallway.  Taking off at a sprint, she headed for the entrance, and with an effort, opened the enormous doors and slipped into the night air.

            It was early December and she knew the Christmas season would soon be upon Hogwarts.  She felt almost sad for a moment when she realized this would be the last Christmas she would still be a Hogwarts student.  Granted, she always went home for the holidays, but nonetheless, the castle was always beautiful for a couple of weeks before the holidays even began.

            She sighed for a moment, wrapping her cloak tighter around her.

            There was snow on the ground, but unlike Adella, Lily was quite fond of the snow.  Especially when it was still fluffy and fresh, much like it was now.

            She started walking toward the lake, thinking it would be refreshing to sit by it, even though it was frozen over.

            Vaguely, she thought about what happened to the giant squid when the lake was frozen, but that thought was quickly pushed out of her mind when she saw a lone figure already sitting by the lake.

            If her life were a movie, it would have been James sitting there.  She would have sat beside him, told him everything she had just figured out and the two would have had their first kiss underneath the crescent moon.

            Since life is so rarely a cliché like that, the lone figure turned out to be Severus Snape.  Lily was surprised and thought for a moment about turning around and heading back inside, but Snape had heard her walking over and looked up, so it would have been rude to suddenly turn around.

            “Severus,” she said softly, sitting a few feet away from him.

            He didn’t look angry to see her, or even surprised.  “Evans,” he replied evenly, as if it were perfectly normal to run into someone next to a lake in the middle of the night in early December.

            “What are you doing out here?” she asked, curiousity getting the best of her.

            “I’m thinking.”

            The pair sat in silence for a moment.  Then, since she felt so uncomfortable sitting in silence with him for some reason, she continued.

            “What are you thinking about?”

            “The future, I suppose.”

            Lily nodded.  “Are you anxious about the future?”

            “Are you?” Severus asked defensively, turning to face her for the first time.

            “Yes,” Lily said flatly, not having the energy to lie.

            “I am a bit too,” Snape said, sighing.  “What are you out here for?”  His tone was bored.  Clearly, he didn’t care.  He was merely being somewhat courteous.

            “I’m thinking as well,” Lily answered.

            “About what?”

            “I’m afraid I cannot tell you the answer at this time.”

            Snape sighed again.  Lily welcomed his lack of response and continued with her thinking.  She had it bad for Potter.  It wasn’t the end of the world.  She’d just have to force herself to unlike him.  Suddenly, she perked up.  She was sitting next to the President of the “We Hate James Potter Fan Club.” If anyone could convince her Potter was the scum of the earth that she had once believed him to be, it was Snape.

            “Snape, let me ask you something.”

            “I was really beginning to enjoy the silence, you know.”

            Lily went on, pretending he did not respond at all.  “What, in your opinion, is Potter’s worst characteristic?”

            “There are far too many to choose from, Evans.”

            “Just answer the question.”

            “He’s a prick, completely arrogant, a bully, an intimidator, an insufferable git who feels the need to prey on those he perceives as weaker than him to feel good about himself, a womanizer and a total phony.”

            Lily did not respond.  She merely shook her head.  Instead of agreeing with Snape, she kind of wanted to bash him upside the head.

            “What’s the worst thing he’s ever done to you?” she then asked him, thinking that perhaps this would help her realize that she did in fact hate him.

            Severus didn’t answer though.  He merely turned and stared at him, eyes bearing into her.

            “Evans, go inside.  I can’t help you.”

            “How do you know?”

            “Because you are Lily Evans and he is James Potter.  He is the school’s fucking golden boy and you are the school’s fucking golden girl.  I know it seems terribly boring but I’m afraid your logic cannot win this particular battle.  But for all its worth, I do applaud you for making him miserable all of these years.  It really is a pity it had to turn out this way.”

            Lily felt herself blush.  “I really hate you sometimes, Severus.”

            “Just another thing you have in common with him, Evans.”

            With that, she got up from the snowy grass and headed back into the school.

            “Shit,” she said out loud.  She was really making a habit of this talking out loud to herself thing.  “I’m really in trouble, aren’t I?”

            She didn’t need anyone to answer, though.  She most definitely already knew the answer.

            

~*~

            “This is not good,” Adella said to Cassandra, Remus, Sirius and Peter, that very night.  James had disappeared to the library, in search of a book for a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and Lily had exiled herself to their dormitory.

            That left the other five on their own, and with the new turn of events, they had some definite talking to do.

            “Why is it not good?” Remus asked.  “Because it looks like Lily may have fallen for James?  Maybe that’s a good thing!”

            Cassandra snorted.  “That’s highly unlikely, Remus.  Did you ever think that maybe Lily wants to win fairly and not on some stupid stipulation?”

            “But we all know it’s about way more than that, Owens,” Sirius snapped.  Then, realizing that Cassandra was actually his girlfriend, he softened a bit.  “But you looked lovely when you made that statement, dear,” he finished meekly.

            “Cut the crap, Black,” Cassandra said, clearly still annoyed with him.  “You pretty much tried to reduce Adella into a prostitute.  I think we both know the relationship is over.”

            Sirius was stunned for a second, impressed at how indifferent she seemed.  Just the other night she had been eating out of the palm of his hand.

            Then he remembered the hickeys and it really all made sense.

            “So you’re with that other guy now?” He asked, somewhat quietly.

            Cassandra blushed.  “I’m not with anyone exclusively right now.”

            “But-“

            “Back to Lily and James, please, Black,” Cassandra cut him off.

            Sirius frowned.  Something shady was going on there, but it didn’t really seem to effect him any more, so it was probably best not to dwell.  Anyway, he’d find out eventually.

            “I think we should cancel the game,” Peter said firmly.  “Clearly they want to be together and if we continue with the game, only bad is going to happen.  Let’s just allow fate to take control.”

            Remus clapped Peter on the back.  “Wormtail is pure genius.  All in favor of going with his proposal?”

            Naturally the three boys raised their hands, while Adella and Cassandra glared back at them.

            “We don’t agree,” Adella said sourly.

            “Big surprise there,” Remus said, beginning to lose his patience.

            “I mean, okay so let’s say hypothetically, Lily really does have it bad for James.  Shouldn’t we consult her before bailing?  It is possible that you three have this all wrong, you know,” Adella said, raising an eyebrow.  “And anyway, I’m pretty much taking anything the three of you say with a grain of salt.”

            “Oh and why’s that?” Sirius asked, standing up, slightly offended.

            “Are you kidding me?” Cassandra said.

            Sirius sat back down, feeling only a little indignant.  They did have a point. The boys had been a bit unscrupulous.

            “Can I just say something?” He said, after the group had sat in silent contemplation for a moment.  “If you two are really Lily’s best friends in the entire world, shouldn’t you be looking out for her well-being?  Aren’t you supposed to know what she needs without her even saying it?  Isn’t that what best friends just do for one another?”

            Cassandra and Adella exchanged a look.

            Finally, after a long moment, Cassandra spoke up.

            “I quit.  I’m getting back together with Gavin anyway, probably, so I don’t feel right playing this game anymore.”

            “Cass-“ Adella tried to chime in.

            “Della, he’s right.  I know you know how she feels about him.  Do the right thing and quit.”

            “Oh trust me, I was planning on it.  But Gavin?  Seriously?”

            Cassandra smirked.  “Don’t worry.  I’ve got a whole new amount of experience and I won’t be getting hurt so easily this time.”

            The three boys looked at one another, smiling in a mutual victory.

            The feeling of euphoria was quickly extinguished though when a new thought entered Peter’s mind.

            “But how are we going to get them together now?”

            Five blank stares filled their small circle.

            “Adella, Sirius,” Remus started.

            “I’m on it,” the two answered simultaneously.

            And suddenly a very new type of game had begun. 


	11. Further Tangling the Web

**Author's Note:  Well hello there.  I realize it has been ridiculously long since i've updated.  But i'm finally on summer break, so i should do a bit better now.  Apologies about the long wait.  Hopefully this chapter will make it worth it.  Oh and as always, please read and reveiw. thanks &enjoy!** 

**Please don't mind what I'm trying to say cause I'm,**

**I'm being honest**

**When I tell you that's you**

**You're part of the reason**

**I'm so set on the rest of my life**

**Being a part of you**

**You tell me what you think about being open, about being honest with yourself**

**Cause things will never be the same.**

**So I guess I'll see you,**

**I'll see you around I'm spinning,**

**while falling down**

**Now you know why I'm begging you to stay**

**“Honestly,” Cartel**

**Chapter 11: Further Tangling the Web**

            As Adella and Sirius bent over the standings neatly written in Remus Lupin’s handwriting the following morning, Sirius struggled to focus due to his close proximity to the blonde.  He studied her face closely, her brow wrinkled in concentration.  Absentmindedly, she threw her locks into a loose ponytail.

           They were in his dormitory, the door locked, sprawled on his bed.  Sirius had put a silencing charm on the door, just in case James were to come back early from a Head meeting.

            It was exactly the way he had always imagined it would be if he could ever get Adella alone, however, the activity that brought them into this circumstance couldn’t have been more different.  Instead of kissing her, he was instead devising a devious plan with her.  Oh, the irony.

            He was so tempted to touch her hair.  Yes, he could admit he had gone about trying to sleep with her all wrong.  He was regretful of his actions.  But as for his intentions, he felt no remorse.  He would shag Adella Cortez before all was said and done.  He’d just have to work a bit harder now.

            “Alright. So the standings are as follows,” she said, finally interrupting his thoughts.  He jumped slightly, afraid she had been able to read his mind.

          “Cassandra’s at 47, Lily’s at 42, I’m at 49, James has 44, you have 50, nice job by the way, Remus is at 23, and Pete’s at 19.”

            “So technically we were winning, huh?” Sirius said, grinning.

          Adella met his gaze and smiled as well. 

          “Not quite.  We had 138 and you blokes only had 136.  We would have won.”

            “Yeah, but I beat you, didn’t I?”       

              “Well, yes, but barely.”            

             “Oh really?  Because I had my last snog three days ago, Della dear.  I beat you by three whole days,” Sirius said, knowing he was goading her toward anger.

            Adella, however, did not respond the way he expected her to.  He expected her to continue their banter.  Instead though, she merely turned to him.

            “Sirius,” she said, her voice husky, “I still haven’t had my last snog yet.”

            “Would you like me to assist you in completing that task then?” he said, matching her tone perfectly.  The moment of truth.

            “Perhaps…” she trailed off, biting her lip indecisively.

            Their eyes met for a moment.  He cocked an eyebrow at her, still unsure if she was playing another mind game.  Ever so slowly, she began to lean in, her breathing getting heavier.

            Sirius went to meet her halfway, vaguely aware that her eyes were fluttering shut.  They were now inches away from one another, the distance shortening with each millisecond.             

            But just as he was about to rush things and cross the rest of the distance and capture her mouth with his, the door burst open.

            “You two have a plan yet?” Peter asked, perfectly oblivious to the close proximity between the two.

            Adella sighed for a moment, clearly a bit frustrated.

            “Still working on it,” she said, her voice barely containing her irritation.

            “I bet we would have come up with something if you hadn’t just burst in, Pete,” Sirius said, his voice almost a growl.

            “Oh really?  Huh, that’s funny.  Were you two on a good brainwave or something?”

            “We had a good connection for a moment there,” Adella said, smiling at Sirius.  “But the moments gone now.”

            “It doesn’t have to be.  Maybe if Peter left-“

            “He might as well stay, Sirius.  Trust me, that idea was not going anywhere useful, come to think of it.”

            “But-“

            “So I have another idea,” Adella cut him off, eyes full of amusement.  “Peter, tell me what you think of this one.”

            “Alright,” Peter said, smiling, happy to be included in the planning.

            “Remus is the only one who really knows the true standings, right?” Adella asked, heart racing with anticipation.

            “As far as I know,” Peter answered, not quite sure where she was going.

            “So if we wanted to, we could fix the standings, right?”

            “Well, we’d have to do some charm work, because they update automatically.  Each time you snog, it automatically gives you another point.  You’d have to do the counter-charm, then add in the amount of points you wanted each person to have.”

            Adella’s eyes lit up.  “Then I have the perfect plan!” She cheered, hastily packing up her belongings.

            “Well, what is it?”  Peter and Sirius asked in unison.

            “We have to find Remus immediately.  He needs to uncharm the paper.  Then we can fix the standings.  Everything will fall perfectly into place.”

            “I’m still not following,” Sirius said, rising with her.

            “Hurry up, I’ll explain on the way.  Where is Remus, anyhow?  The library?”

            “Far as I know,” Peter said, rushing after Adella, who had just grabbed her bag and headed for the door.  “But Adella what’s the plan-“

            “Just hurry up.  It’s brilliant, I promise!”

            Peter turned to Sirius, who merely shrugged, turning to follow Adella.  Peter stopped him before he could leave though.

            “Listen, Padfoot I’m sorry I came in and stopped you and Adella from snogging,” he said quickly, looking genuinely apologetic.

            Sirius shrugged again, although he was shocked that Peter had actually picked up one what had been going on.  Clearly Wormtail was more aware of his surroundings than they gave him credit.  “It’s no problem, buddy.  Just proved she wants me, that’s all.  But let’s go.  Maybe we can work in the ‘Sirius Seducing Adella Clause’ into the plan somehow.”

            Peter laughed, following Sirius out of their dormitory.  He had a strong suspicion that it was only a matter of time until things became even more tangled up than they already were.

~*~

            “I have absolutely no idea how to solve the inter-house rivalries,” Lily said, staring dumbly at the piece of paper before her with McGonagall’s and Dumbledore’s objectives for the remainder of the school year.

            “Well that makes two of us,” James replied, running a hand through his hair.

            The two sat in a deserted classroom, figuring that this would be the absolutely last place to cause a disruption or distraction on a Saturday morning.  McGonagall had clearly instructed them to sketch out a basic line of how to solve several of the school’s problems, including the inter-house rivalry, which was quickly reaching an all time high.  Students were constantly being jinxed and hexed on their way to class, to dinner, or simply just strolling around the grounds, and yet, taking points away did nothing to lessen the heated and bitter rivalries around the school.

            “We have to have a basic plan though,” Lily said, rubbing her eyes.  She checked her watch. 10:52. It was going to be a long day.

            “But honestly, I think the inter-house rivalries are good,” James said, after a long pause of silence.  “They keep us sharp, on our toes.  We work harder to beat the enemy because we see them as the enemy.”

            “But when the safety of the students is at risk because of them-“

            “Lily, honestly, why did you work so hard to be Head Girl?”

            She paused for a moment, considering it.  “Well I suppose because I wanted to make a difference in the school.  I wanted to lead the students and I felt like I deserved it because of my hard work and my qualifications.”

            “And because you didn’t want some twit like Bertha Jorkins to get it instead?”

            Lily smiled.  “I’m not going to lie and say I wouldn’t have cared if she did.”

            “Well I’ll be perfectly frank.  I was mainly glad to be Head Boy because that meant I had power over Snape and I have worked hard to exert my power over him and demand his respect.”

            She shook her head.  “I think you have it all wrong, James.”

            “Maybe I do.  But I don’t want to be right in this circumstance.”

            “Then let’s just agree to disagree and tell McGonagall and Dumbledore we have no solution, due to our own personal opinions of the benefits of the rivalries.”

            “Agreed.”

            They settled in silence for a moment as Lily pulled out that week’s point sheets to go over and calculate to make sure everything was as it was intended to be.

            After a long pause, James finally spoke.

            “Are you going home for break?”

            “I think so.  You?”

            “Yeah, Sirius’s is staying with me and my family again this year.”

            “That’s nice.”

            “Yeah, it is,” James said, struggling for conversation.          

              Lily felt herself blush a bit as he smiled when she handed him the point sheets.  She was silently praying that he would not ask her why she chose not to cancel the game.  If she could just get through the next half hour or so without him bringing it up…

            “I have to ask, why didn’t you choose to cancel the game?” He finally asked after working up his courage.

            “Um, well you see, I-I wanted to…” She had no idea what to tell him.  _Oh dear,_ she thought _.  Do I tell him I love him? No! I can’t_. _It will terrify him.  Guys don’t like it when girls are all needy and clingy and such.  Play it cool, but not icy.  Just be cool about it._   “I’m just having a lot of fun, you know?  Don’t want the good times to end.”

            James watched her observantly, clearly noting the way her eyes panicked before she gave her answer.  Something was up.  He just didn’t know what it was.

            “You’re having a good time with this, huh?” He said, raising a brow skeptically.

            “Yeah, bloody great time!” her voice rose higher as she said it.  _Dear Merlin, I’m going to break out into a nervous rash.  Quick! Change the subject!  Ask about his mum or his plans over break! Ask about…_

            “So does your Mum make a big Christmas feast over the holidays?”  She asked, her voice still in that strange high octave.

            “Um, my mum died when I was seven.”

            _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!_

“James, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”

            “Hey, it’s alright, no big deal.  My grandmother cooks for us on Christmas.  But really, you only didn’t cancel the game because you’re having fun sucking face with half the male population of the school?  That’s the whole reason?”

            “You have a grandmother!” Lily burst out, blood rushing to her head.

            James stared at her, his eyes wide.  “Lily-“

            “Grandmothers are lovely, aren’t they?  Mine are both absolute peaches.  And they bake delicious plum pudding!”

            James continued to stare at her like she was growing foot from her chin, choosing not to answer.

            “Are you quite alright?” he asked, seemingly concerned.

            _Just start crying and apologizing.  That will make things better.  No, that’s the dumbest idea ever.  God, I am such a moron.  Now he probably thinks I’m crazy!_ She thought, trying to stop her eyes from widening and rotating from side to side like a crazy person’s.

            “I didn’t eat this morning,” Lily said.  “My blood sugar’s low.  I better run and grab something from the kitchens real quick.  Actually, on second thought, I’ll probably want to lie down when I’m done eating.  Can you finish?”

            “Yeah but I think we need to talk for a second-“ James tried to say, but was quickly cut off as he saw Lily get up and literally sprint for the doorway, slamming it behind her.

            “Well, that was a bit odd,” he said aloud, scratching his head.  “Mental note: find out what is bothering Lily and DO NOT let her leave this campus for holiday break until it is all figured out.”

            James smiled for a moment.  Already an idea was forming in his head.

~*~

            Remus Lupin sat in his Arithmancy class the following Monday, still half exhausted from the weekend’s festivities.  It had been a full moon Saturday night, so he was still recovering from the Marauder’s activities.  Stretching, he felt his head throb a bit.  He’d have to go to the hospital wing during lunch and get a Pepper-Up Potion to make it through the rest of the day.

            “So can anyone give me an answer to number eleven?”  Professor Vector droned from the front of the room.  Remus shook his head a bit.  How a guy as dull as Vector had managed to get his hands all over Adella still amazed him.  He had the personality of a rock.

            “Anyone?” Vector called out again, when no hands popped up into the air.  He seemed as though he was about to panic a bit.  “Adella, would you like to come to the front of the room and show the rest of the class how to do eleven?  I know we had gone over this type of problem before in our tutoring sessions.”

            Adella’s eyes widened.  “Professor, you haven’t tutored me since we started the new section.  I have no idea how to do these types of problems.”

            Which seemed to be true.  Adella was smart, but Remus was at least ninety percent sure the only reason why she had been able to pass the class thus far was because of Lily’s help.

            Right on cue, Lily’s hand flew into the air.  “I’ll answer the question, professor.”

            “That’s not necessary, Evans.  I think Adella can handle it.”

            “No really, I need to do this problem,” Lily continued to argue.  Remus couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.  Apparently Vector would pay Cortez back for their break-up in the classroom.  Not the classiest move he had ever heard of.

            “Cortez, board now.” Vector said shortly.

            Sighing, Adella rose, shooting Lily a look.  Lily shrugged, her expression clearly reading, “Hey, I tried.”

            As Adella approached Vector, her eyes were hard.  She avoided making eye contact and pointedly side-stepped him.  Once she finally got to the board, she picked up a piece of chalk and stood their, motionless.  She seemed to be pondering the question very carefully, and several long, painfully tense moments passed.  Finally she sighed, and turned around to face him.

            “Professor, I have no idea how to do the problem.”

            Vector’s face lit up.  “I figured as much.  So can I assume we will be resuming our, ehem, “tutoring” sessions tonight?”  Vector looked triumphant, and his use of air quote around the word tutoring sent shock waves through the classroom.

            Even those who did not have knowledge about the pair’s affair picked up on what he seemed to be hinting.  There was something so direct and slimy about his voice that many exchanged curious glances.  Behind him Remus heard mutterings like, “Did he just insinuate that they had been sleeping together?” and “Well, of course _she_ would.”

            Adella’s face colored a bit, and she seemed horrified at Vector’s response.

            “No, I don’t think that will be necessary, Professor.” He eyes lowered.

            “And why’s that, Adella?  Hmm, are you, or are you not in need of _tutoring_?”

            “Not from you she’s not!”  Sirius said, looking defiantly.

            “Oh really?” Vector said, shooting Adella a dark glance.

            “Yeah, I’m tutoring her now, so she won’t be needing to see you anymore, _Professor_ ,” Sirius’s expression was easy to read: “She’s mine buddy.  Hands off.”

            At that the class started to snicker.  Immediately Adella realized that yet another rumor was about to explode over the Hogwarts social scene and sent Lily a panicked look.

            Lily however merely shrugged and smiled at Adella.  As Adella passed her on her way back to her seat, Lily whispered to her, “Well, I guess that’s just karma.  And you know what they say, ‘Karma’s a bitch.’”

            As Remus observed the rest of the class’s snickering and whispering, he couldn’t help but disagree.  Karma wasn’t just a bitch, it was a gossip queen too.

~*~

            After class, Lily and Adella rushed out of the room to lunch, eager to fill Cassandra in on the day’s events.  Lily started laughing as she and her friend walked the hallways.

            “Your face was priceless, Dell!”  She said, recalling Adella’s expression when Sirius had come to her defense.  “I’ve never seen anyone like so furious and thankful at the same time.”

            “Well, at least that probably made people forget that I’m the whore that had sex with my professor.”

            “I highly doubt that happened.  Now you’re just the whore that not only had sex with your professor, but also is currently having sex with Sirius Black.  And he’s probably the less of the two evils.”

            Adella smiled a bit.  “Oh, screw it.  I’ve had worse rumors go around about me than this.”

            “Like last year when everyone thought you were pregnant with Jack Coughlin’s baby because you had that nasty flu bug for two weeks?”

            “Oh Lily, you and that perfect memory,” Adella said, laughing despite her slight irritation.  “So anyway, I spoke with Remus the other day.  Did you know that Cass and I both only need one more snog to finish the game?”

            “No way!  You guys are that close already?”

            “Yeah, isn’t that insane?  I had no idea until he pulled me aside in the library on Saturday.”

            “Did he tell you how far away I was?”

            “You’re at forty-eight.”

            “Seriously?”

            “Seriously.”

            “What are the boys at?”

            “All done besides Remus and James.”

            “So all we have to do is collectively snog four more blokes and it’s all over?”

            “Yeah, but Lily, I think we need to talk about that tiny detail-“             But it was now clear Lily wasn’t listening.  She had stopped dead in her tracks and looked distraught.

            “Lily-“ Adella said again, seeming concerned about her best friend.

            “Adella, that has to be a mistake,” Lily said, her brows wrinkled.  

            “Not according to Remus, its not,” Adella said, praying that her lying skills were working.  She had always been terrible at lying to Lily.

            “But it is!  I’ve been keeping track of my own snogs and I’m not at forty-eight yet.  I have more time to figure everything out!”

            “Lily, what is there to figure out?”

            “Everything!”

            “Lils-“

            “Adella,” she said, her voice hushed, pulling Adella close to her.  “I-I-I’m just so confused.  I just know this game can’t end yet.  I just need more time.”

            Adella smiled, thrilled to see everything was exactly as she has believed it to be.  Now she could put part two of the plan into effect.

            “What can I do to help you figure everything out?”

            “Just see if you can stall things somehow.”

            “But how am I to do that?”  Adella said, suddenly unhappy at this turn of direction.  They had banked on Lily wanting to rush the end of this game.  Cassandra and Adella would each snog one more and finish as quickly as possible, which would just leave Lily.  Lily’s course of action was the dramatic part two of the plan.

            “Are you sure?  You really want me to slow things down?”

            “Yes, desperately!  It can’t end yet!”

            “But what if Cass and I finish, and then you just stall snogging the last guy?”

            “If James finds out it comes down to just me and him, he’ll definitely rush to end the game, so he’ll win.”

            Adella ran a hand through her hair.  That was the whole point of the plan.

            “Alright, Lils, I’ll try to convince Remus to hold out as well.”

            “Thanks, you’re the best!  Come on, we need to go update Cassandra!”

            “You go ahead, I need to go to the library real quick.”

            As Adella watched Lily rush into the Great Hall, she shook her head.  Suddenly they were right back to square one, which was so not a good place to be with such little time to wrap every loose end up.

~*~

            “We need to talk,” Adella said to Sirius that afternoon in Transfiguration class.  McGonagall had instructed them to work on changing goldfish into teacups while she went to an impromptu meeting with Dumbledore about a recent attack in Hogsmeade.  Which meant that most of the class was now using the class to catch up other homework, or simply socializing.

            Sirius smirked.  “Does it concern your need for tutoring in Arithmancy?”

            “You ass,” Adella said, playfully hitting him on the arm.  “You thoroughly enjoyed making everyone think we were sleeping together, didn’t you?”

            “Eh, maybe just a little,” Sirius said, smiling.  “So what’s up?”

            “She wants to stall things,” Adella said, her voice dangerously low.

            “What?”

            “I said-“

            “I heard you.  But why?”

            “Says she’s confused.  Needs time to figure things out.”

            “But that’s not the plan.”

            “I know.”

            “Did you try to suggest speeding things up?”

            “Yes!  Of course I did!”

            “So why didn’t it work, Adella dear?” Sirius asked, getting very annoyed at Adella now.  Honestly, her only job was to convince Lily to put the game in a James vs. Lily situation, so James could hurry up and finish the damn thing.  Now it seemed as though it would come down to having others involved in the final showdown, which would unnecessarily complicate things.

            “Look, she doesn’t want to lose, per say.  At least she hasn’t realized she wants to lose yet.  Give her a few days and I’m sure Cassandra and I will be able to convince her that actually she wants James to beat her so she has no choice but to date him.”

            “Cortez, you better pull this off.  I swear to Merlin, if you don’t, I’ll-“

            “What Sirius, what will you do?” Adella said, temper now flaring.  It was easy for Sirius to sit back and order her around when the whole world knew his best friend was ready and willing to admit his love for Lily.  Adella had to manage pulling that confession from Lily, and she had a strong suspicion that it would be like trying to pull teeth.  Not to mention Cassandra had been M.I.A. lately because of her new relationship with Gavin.  Essentially, Adella was fighting an uphill battle all by herself.  She so did not need Sirius bloody Black ordering her around, no matter how hot he was when he got all assertive.

            Not that she’d ever admit that last part to anyone ever, of course.

            “I’m working on it, Black.  Give me two days.”

            “And if you can’t make it work within those two days?”

            “Back to the drawing board, I’m afraid.”

            “Make it work, baby.  That’s all I’m asking of you,” Sirius said, lazily throwing an arm around her, which she immediately wiggled out of.

            “But speaking of making things work, I do need your help in Arithmancy.  Lily’s tried teaching me this section about five times and I still don’t get it.  Up to giving it a try?”  Adella asked, hopefully.

            “I’ll meet you in the common rooms at seven.”

            “You’re a peach, Black.  I owe you.”

            With that she turned on her heel and went back to her own seat to work on changing a goldfish into a tea cup.  Sirius watched her go, and smiled.  Now it was time to put his own personal plan into effect.

~*~

            While their best friends were plotting how to make them realize they were in love, Lily and James were innocently (well, at least on Lily’s half) having a conversation as well.

            James meanwhile, was working on forcing Lily to admit why she had refused to cancel the game.

            “Lily, I need to talk to you,” he said, admiring how cute she was when her brow was all wrinkled in concentration.

            “James, I’m a bit busy right now, but we can talk later.”

            “Your wrist movement is all wrong, just so you know,” he pointed out, cringing at the poking motion she had adapted in frustration.

            “I’ve pretty much given up hope, so I figured I’d just poke the goldfish to death,” Lily said, smiling a bit.

            “Here,” James said, standing behind her and grabbing her wrist.  “It’s like this.”

            He moved her wrist ninety degrees clockwise and then countered with going 180 degrees counterclockwise.  He muttered the incantation, and suddenly she had an elegant china teacup sitting before her.

            “It’s pretty precise,” he said, commenting on the wrist movement.

            Lily could barely breathe.  She felt herself relax a bit in James’ strong grip.  It just felt so right.

            Suddenly, she snapped out of it.  “What was that for?  A simple explanation would have done just fine, you know.”

            “But Lily-“

            “James, I’m not stupid.”

            “I know you aren’t, I was just trying to help you so I could talk to you for two seconds.”

            “So you decided to just do the work for me?”

            “Yes-“

            Lily let out an angry growl, making James extremely nervous.

            “No!  I meant no, but if you’d just listen-“

            “I don’t want to talk to you anymore, James.  Go back to your own seat and help someone else.”

            James felt himself getting angry.  He had never seen anyone react so badly to help as Lily Evans.  The girl was just such an enigma to him.

            “What is your problem, Lily?” he asked, lowering his voice and stepping closer to her.

            “I don’t have a problem, James,” she said, trying her best to sound like she meant it.  _You! You’re my problem.  You and the fact that I’ve fallen head over heels for you!_ Her inner voice screamed.

            “Then why wouldn’t you cancel the game?  Is it because you’re starting to fall for me and you just didn’t want to admit it?  Hmm?  Tell me the truth, you’re dying for me to beat you so you have no choice but to date me and then you can feel okay about falling in love with me.  Just be honest with me, Lily.”

            Lily did not respond.  She stood there, legs going numb.  He knew everything.  She felt like the room was getting smaller, her head swimming with thoughts of the pair of them together, and she felt her stomach give a violent lurch.

            She suddenly felt like Logical Lily had reappeared for the first time in months and was watching the scene unfold.  Who was she trying to be?  She was Lily Evans, the Head Girl extraordinaire, and he, he was James Potter, leader of the Marauders, also known as private enemy number one.  And she would beat him.

            “I didn’t cancel the game because I wanted to beat you fair and square.  And I will.  Because I want nothing more in this entire world than to never have to speak to you ever again.  You are the scum of the earth and I would never fall so low as to fall in love with you.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out how to change a goldfish into a teacup _all by myself._ ”

            She then turned away from him in anger, and James backed away to his own table.  It was now his turn to feel his legs go numb.  He wasn’t positive, but he had a pretty strong suspicion that Lily had just set her resolve to win the game and free herself of his presence forever.

            And one thing he was sure of was that once Lily’s resolve was set, it was damn near impossible to change her mind.

            But then again, James had long ago set his own resolve to make Lily fall in love with him.

            And he’d be damned if he let her resolve beat his. 


	12. Ending the Battle, But Not the War

**Author's Note: Chapter 12 is a bit different than the other ones.  Only thought it fair to give warning that there is underage drinking (at least if you live in the US) in this chapter.  If that bother you, skip to the end of the page and read the last few paragraphs.  That pretty much sums up what went on in this chapter.  Also, just wanted to add real quick-THIS IS NOT THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE STORY.  THERE IS STILL A LOT OF THE SNOGGING GAME LEFT TO TELL.**

**With that said, please please please read and REVIEW.  as most of you know, i'm a review whore and i adore reveiws that not only offer encouragement but constructive criticism.  so as i've said before, please review and let me know what you think about this chapter--its the only way for me to know if you like what i'm doing or if i should mix it up a bit.**

**enough of that stuff...enjoy 12 and i'll see you lot in chapter 13.**

_**Paper bags and plastic hearts** _

_**All our belongings in shopping carts** _

_**It's goodbye** _

_**But we got one more night** _

_**Let’s get drunk and ride around** _

_**And make peace with an empty town** _

_**We can make it right** _

_**Throw it away** _

_**Forget yesterday** _

_**We'll make the great escape** _

_**We won't hear a word they say** _

_**They don't know us anyway** _

_**Watch it burn** _

_**Let it die** _

_**Cause we are finally free tonight** _

“The Great Escape,” Boys Like Girls

 

 

**Chapter 12** : Ending The Battle, But Not the War 

 

 

            “I’ve completely changed my mind,” Lily said, powerwalking down the hallway after Transfiguration.  She was fuming, hair flying wildly, all poise forgotten.

            It was rare for Lily to allow her temper to completely get the best of her.  First through fourth year, she had been a virtual time bomb, liable to go off at anytime, often without much warning.  However, with fifth year came the new duties of a prefect, and Lily had acquired the ability of self-control.

            In fact, most of her explosions in the past two years had been because of one James Potter.  And so as Adella and Cassandra hurried after her in an attempt to do damage control, they had a pretty good guess as to what the problem was exactly.  Or at least, who had caused the explosion.

            “Lily!” Cassandra called as they neared the Gryffindor common rooms.  “Mind informing us what the problem is exactly?”

            “It’s him!”  Lily spat, face already turning splothcy red with anger.  “Him and his stupid, stupid assumptions.  As if I am in love with him!”

            Adella and Cassandra shared a glance, both pairs of eyes growing large.

            “You mean you’re not in love with James?” Cassandra asked tentatively.

            “Oh course I’m not!” Lily snapped.  “Gingerbread!” She yelled at the Portrait of the Fat Lady in disgust.

            “Well there’s no need to yell, dear,” the Fat Lady said indignantly as she swung open.  “Honestly, Christmas brings out the worst in children.”

            “Yeah, yeah, button it!” Lily yelled again.

            “But wait, Lils, you didn’t cancel the game-“ Adella started, now beginning to panic.  If they had misread Lily and allowed the game to be canceled without her knowledge and she didn’t actually love James, she and Cassandra were dead.  Big time.

            “Why is it that everyone assumes just because I didn’t cancel the game that I am in love with James Potter?” Lily asked, now growing frustrated.  And a bit sick.  She hated lying, and her entire world was pretty much becoming one giant lie.  But she had pride.  And if anyone thought for a moment that she was merely going to just step aside and give into James, they were wrong.  She could just see his smug face full of an “I told you so” look.  He’d be so thrilled to be able to say that he made Lily fall in love with him.  That made her feel even sicker.

            “It’s just your attitude toward him is completely different,”  Adella continued caustiously.  “You two really seem to be getting along.  And I’m just sensing some chemistry there that wasn’t before…” she trailed off.

            “For the thousandth time, I do not love James Potter.  Never have, never will.  So we need to regroup and reorganize.  You two need to get one more snog each, and I’ve got two more to go.  We will win this, ladies.  Game over, it ends tonight.”

            Cassandra felt her stomach knot.  “Pardon, did you just say tonight?”

            “Yes, tonight.  Cancel your plans with Gavin.”

            “But-“

            “You will snog one more person tonight, Cass.  I mean the finish line is so close.  Don’t you just want this to be done and over already?”

            Cassandra and Adella exchanged an uneasy glance.  This game had nearly destroyed their friendship.  As it was, they were on shaky ground as of yet.  If Lily found out that they had sold her out for what they believed to be her best interest, that would be the end of their trio.

            “I said from the beginning that I was in this to win it for you, Lily,” Adella stated defiantly.  “If you are telling me, one hundred percent honestly, without a shadow of doubt that never ever speaking to James Potter or getting asked out by him, or really ever having any contact with him outside of your Head duties is what you want, then I’m in.”

            Lily hesitated.  What was Adella going on about?  “It is what I want.”

            Adella nodded.

            “Lily, are you sure?”  Cassandra asked.  “You’ll never have any regrets?”

            “I’m positive I won’t regret this,” she said again, this time without hesitation.  _Stupid, stupid girl.  Why won’t you just give in? You know its what he wants and what you want.  You want to be with him, and you know these two would help you get him.  Why won’t you just give in?_

            “Alright, then I’m in too,” Cassandra said, sounding regretful.  “Shall we change out of our uniforms and get to work then?”

            “I think so,” Lily said, seeming a bit confused.  “But we’re running out of choices within the school…I’m not sure where to go tonight.”

            “But here’s the thing, I’d really prefer to not snog someone from Hogwarts.  I don’t want Gavin to know I’m cheating on him already,” Cassandra said.

            They both turned to Adella.  If anyone knew a place that would allow for them to quickly end the game and have fun while doing so, it was she.

            She sighed.  “I’m supposed to get tutored tonight by Sirius in Arithmancy.  Oh stop, I swear its nothing,” she quickly continued when Lily and Cassandra started to raise their brows to her statement.  “But I know a place in Hogsmeade.  Are you both okay with sneaking out tonight?”

            “Fine by me,” Lily said, while Cassandra nodded.

            “Alright, then we need to get out of here now if we’re to be back by eight for me to get tutored.  Plus, James and Remus are only a snog away from ending the game before us.  We need to leave now.”

            The three then ran up to their dorm, each throwing off their uniforms and changing into what Adella dubbed “appropriate pub attire” which was more or less jeans or skirts on the bottom and some sort of low cut shirt.  They used magic to perfect their hair and make-up, and then, sliding on a pair of stilletos as they hopped out the door, they each grabbed a cloak for warmth.

            The clock read 5:17.

~*~

            “Alright, we have to be silent,” Adella whispered, sliding off her stillets, which had been making a soft click-clack noise on the marble floors of the hallways.  The other two followed suite, Cassandra nearly toppling over in the process.

            “Shhh” Lily hushed her has she dissoloved into giggles.

            The three took a narrow hallway near the dungeons, sliding behind a statue as they heard noise approaching from down the hallway.

            “We have to stay here until they pass.  It’s most likely Slytherins on their way to dinner,” Adella whispered, heart pounding.  It was such a thrill, sneaking off to a pub on a Monday night.  Granted, the crowd there tonight would be far from the Saturday night partiers she had grown accustomed to during her semi-regular trips to Hogsmeade.

            “So I told my father he’d need to buy me double the presents since he and mother would be leaving before New Year’s.  Not that I actually care though.  Actually, that just means that now I’ll be able to have an amazing party without them present,” a voice that sounded identical to Narcissa Black said, full of conceit.

            They heard a group of girls giggle, and soon the sound of swishing cloaks could no longer be heard.

            “We’re good to go,” Cassandra whispered, after peeking out to make sure no one was following them.

            Silently, the girls slid out from behind the large statue and continued down the dark hallway.  Abruptly, Adella turned off to another alcolve containing a large statue of Doris Dendrix, a healer from the 8th century.  She pulled out her wand and tapped her on her nose three times.  Immediately, the statue was gone, replaced instead with a trap door.  Hesitantly, Adella opened it and began to get in.

            “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” She asked for the final time.

            “Yes, come on, time is wasting,” Lily said, softly pushing Adella into the opening.  Once all three were in, Adella then tapped the door four times, undoubtedly ensuring that the statue would be returned.

            “Where exactly are we going?” Cassandra asked, sounding nervous.

            “Well, I figure if we go to the Leaky Cauldron, we’re going to run into someone who knows we’re students.  That could be kind of messy.  And the Hog’s Head is so shady, I deffinitely don’t think that place is worth going to.  So I’m thinking we would go to this pub called the Purple Lotus.  They don’t ask to see I.D. of any kind and they usually allow young girls such as oursevles to drink for free.  We’ll probably see a good amount of recent grads from Hogwarts back in town.  I’ve been there a handful of times and its always bursting with alumni, no matter what day of the week or time I go there.  But don’t expect a raging party.  It is only 6:00 on a Monday.”

            “Where does this passage lead to?”  Lily asked.

            “It’ll drop us right outside the entranceto the Purple Lotus.  Actually, it was James and Sirius who took me down here during sixth year over Easter break.  We were the only three Gryffindors left in the school, pretty much, so the three of us went  out together one night.”

            The three continued in silence, Lily wrapping her cloak a bit tighter.  It was so cold in this tunnl, and she was only wearing a tight pencil skirt with  a short-sleeved scoop necked top.  She didn’t know how Adella wasn’t shivering, wearing only a barely there jean skirt and flimsy long sleeved t-shirt.  Cassandra too looked cold in her skin tight jeans and tube top.  All three were struggling a bit with their balance with their pencil thin heels getting stuck in the dirt path.

            After what felt like an eternity, Lily felt the ground sloping upward  Finally Adella lifted the ceiling, leading them out into the bushes outside a small brick building with a purple sign reading “The Purple Lotus.”

            “Ladies, we’re here,” Adella said, motioning to the building.  “Now just fluff up your hair a bit, adjust the busts, put on this,” she said, handing them her clear lip gloss, “and let’s do the damn thing.  It’s 6:13.  We will be out of here by 7:30 with this game won.”

            “Let’s do it!” Lily cried emphatically, immediately taking both girls arms and rushing inside.

            The room was dimly lit, with black floors and brick walls.  There were several high tables scattered around the room, with a bar at the front, which was also black, but was trimmed with that same bright purple that had been on the sign.  The three took inventory of the room, which was surprisingly fairly busy.  There were only four empty tables.

            “Deffinitely more guys here than girls,” Lily muttered to Cassandra as they made their way over to an empty table, which had two large groups of men on either side.  “We’ll have no problem getting this done tonight.”

            “I hope you’re right,” Cassandra said, sounding doubtful.

            “Ladies,” a  handsome young man with wizarding robes said, as he quickly approached their table.  He had blonde hair and dark brown eyes and seemed almost unnaturally tan for being in Scotland during December.  He had a few friends with him, all smiling and all fairly attractive.  “Don’t I know you three from somewhere?”

            Immediately Adella jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his neck.  “Dino!”

            “This is your brother?”  Cassandra asked, clearly puzzled.  Adella had always described him as kind of gangly and awkward looking.  Clearly the girl could not be trusted for descriptions.  The man before them was the most attractive man she had ever seen, with his strong jawline and smoldering eyes.

            “Yeah, this is Dino.  These are my best friends Lily and Cassandra,” Adella said, smiling.  “I thought you were in Greece until February on a business venture.”

            “Sealed the deal early and figured I’d get back home for the Holidays.  Plus our dearest father was only too eager to give me another assignenment.  I leave the first of the year for Argentina.”

            “What exactly is your business?”  Cassandra asked, genuinely interested.  She always wondered how Adella’s family had as much money as they did, and Adella didn’t like to talk about her wealth.  She claimed it made her feel like the Malfoy’s or Lestranges.

            “I work in my dad’s company.  We sell ingredients to apothecaries and potion making stores.  Basically we just buy the rights to own what Mother Nature naturally makes herself, then send out people to harvest it, then sell it to idiot companies that don’t realize they could do the same thing and save themselves millions of galleons by skipping the step that involves us altogether.  I just bought up Italy’s entire gillyweed supply and resold it to bigger companies.  Little Miss Adella over here should be expecting diamonds for Christmas thanks to my handywork.”

            Adella merely rolled her eyes, unimpressed.  “Well its good to have you home, even if you are more conceited than ever,” she drawled.

            “What are you three doing out here anyway?”  Dino asked, raising an eyebrow.  “Mum said your last day of school was this coming Friday.”

            “We snuck out,” Lily chimed in.

            “Girls after my own heart,’  Dino sais, smiling at his little sister.  “Always up to no good, aren’t you Della?”

            “You know it.  And speaking of which, any of you gents care to buy us three some drinks?”

            Almost immediately the three were being introduced to the men in Dino’s group of friends, many of which Adella had heard of but had never actually met.  Dino, however, took a step back, content to watch his little sister.  He supposed Adella was probably pretty grateful that he was no an over protective big brother and more or less allowed her to do as she pleased.  He hoped she’d allow him to do the same, especially considering that her two best friends were some of the hottest women he had ever seen.

            Lily, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to run into.  All of them seemed very friendsly and flirtatious.  Getting snogged by them wouldn’t be a problem, as far as she was concerned.

            “Fire whiskey, Lily?”  one asked.  He had told her his name twice already, but she still had no idea who he was.

            “Sure, thanks,” she said, happily taking the shot.

            “So do you have a boyfriend I need to worry about getting you in trouble with?” he asked, blue eyes twinkling.

            She smiled.  An idea was forming in her head already.

            “Actually, no.  That’s why we’re out tonight.  All three of us recently broke up with our boyfriends and are looking for some good rebound fun.”

            The guy smiled toothily, nodding his head.

            “Did you hear that fellas?” he called out.  “These three ladies are all single, and all looking for a rebound.  Any takers?”

            Immediately Lily found herself being whisked out onto the dance floor, enjoying the feeling of a stranger’s hands on her hips.  Without thinking, she leaned in, brushing her lips against his.  He returned her kiss, gently putting his hands on her face.  She allowed his tongue entrace to her mouth, chills shooting down her back as he stroked her hair.

            Seven minutes later, she only had one snog left to complete to finish the game.

            And with a bar full of available men, how hard could it possible be?

            Cassandra too was on the dance floor, except her partner was the one and only Dino Cortez.  She had no idea what the rules were about hooking up with your best friend’s brother, but she felt fairly safe that all rules were cancelled tonight in their desperate attempt to finish the game before the boys.

            It was already 6:52.  Her head was spinning, probably due to the large quantities of alcohol Dino kept handing her.  She would so regret this in the morning.

            “So tell me, aren’t you the one with the idiot boyfriend who cheated on her this summer?”

            “Yeah, how did you know?”

            “Della mentioned needing to cheer you up in one of her letters.”

            “I see.”

            “Hmm, well, do you want to know what I think?”

            “What’s that?”

            “I think it’s a good thing that boyfriend of yours cheated on you,” Dino drawled, smiling lazily.

            “And why’s that?”

            “Because now you don’t need to feel guilty about kissing me.”

            “And who said I was going to kiss you?”

            “It doesn’t need said, babe.  I can just tell.”

            And without further discussion, his larger mouth captured her smaller one in a decisive swoop.  Cassandra felt completely dizzy as she got lost in the moment.  He was such a good kisser, responding to her every movement perfectly.  She felt her knees go weak and secured her grip around his neck a bit more.

            Several minutes went by and when they broke apart, Dino shot her a lazy grin.

            “I’ll catch up with you in a bit,” he sent her a wink and went on his way.

            Cassandra stood there, a stupid smiling spreak across her face, one thought crossing her mind, and that was that cheating on Gavin was totally worth it.

~*~

            Adella meanwhile, threw her trademark blonde hair over her shoulder.  She had just seen Lily begin snogging with guy number one, and to her left, she saw her brother kissing Cassandra.

            Which oddly enough, did not bother her in the least.

            After all, she was about to hook up with his best friend, Colin, so it was only fair that he hook up with one of hers.

            Colin handed her a coke and rum, smiling as she thanked him.

            “Haven’t we grown up nicely,” he said, eyeing her body.  “Last I saw you, you were only fourteen and only starting to grow get interested in boys.  Where did the time go?”

            “Very funny, Colin,” she said, hittig him good naturedly.  “You single?”

            “Very much so.  Safe to presume you are too?”

            “Very safe,” she said, her mind breifly wandering to Sirius.  But he was not her boyfriend, not by a long shot.

            “And if I were to do something so stupid as to kiss you…”

            “We’d pretend it never happened next time I see you.”

            “Always knew you were a smart girl, Della.”

            With that the small gap between their lips closed, and Adella completed snog number fifty.

            It was 7:02 PM.

            Lily scanned the room, looking for Adella and Cassandra.  She was done.  She had just broke a kiss with a man named Matt, who worked for for some departement in the Ministry.  He was perfectly nice and had served his purpose well.

            He had been her fiftieth snog.

            She checked her bracelet watch, smiling as she saw the time read 7:12.

            She was quite positive that James would finish tonight as well.  However, she doubted that he would be done already.  Afterall, with Christmas break fast approaching, most of the school was heavily burried with tests and homework, causing Hogwarts students to be on lock-down.  She highly doubted he’d be able to finish his snogs too easily inside Hogwarts, and if he were in town, then it literally would be a race against the clock for the pair of them.

            Finally she saw her friends, both looking triumphant.

            “You two done?”

            “Yes,” the answered simultaneously.

            “Me too!  Then let’s get out of here.  We wouldn’t want Adella to miss her ‘tutoring’ with Sirius,” she said smiling.

            “I don’t think I’m really in any shape to be tutored tonight,” Adella said, somewhat shamefaced.  “I’m smashed.  I’ve drank far too much to be able to learn much of anything.”

            “Agreed,” Cassandra admitted as well.

            “Well bollocks, I’m in no rush to get back then,” Lily said.  “Shall we stay for a bit and celebrate the end of the game?”

            “I’ll drink to that!”  Cassandra called out, motioning for someone to bring them each another drink.

            Raising their glasses, Lily proposed the toast.

            “To the end of The Snogging Game.  May we have kicked those boys’ sorry asses!”

            “Here, here!” Adella and Cassandra chimed in, tapping their glasses together.

            Lily smiled.  She had done it.  Fifty snogs in three months, with fifty different blokes.  Tomorrow they’d figure out exactly who won.

            But now, it was time to celebrate.  And celebrate they would. 

 


	13. Making Mistakes

**Author's Note: Well, hello there.  I realize it has been ridiculously long since the last update-so sorry about that.  There's no real excuse, outside of the usual, i've been busy, blah blah blah.  I am really sorry, and i do hope you haven't abandoned the story.  As for the next update, with Christmas break around the corner, i should get some time then to update again.  Once again, i'm sorry about the long wait, but please do read and review.  This chapter is kinda a big deal as far as the plot's concerned.  Thanks!**       

 

_And we're gonna risk it all for the weekend_

__

Cause I've been needing this time off and everybody's drinking

__

 

__

You get excited, you can't hide it when you hit the floor

__

 

__

The after party won't get started till bout three or four

__

 

__

So when you see me from across the room, girl you know what to do

__

 

__

Can you get me in the mood?

__

__

_Let's burn this filthy town, straight into the ground_

_With our dirty looks and glances_

_Come on can you hear us now,_

_As we rock you, shock you, drop you, and make you want it more?_

     

**Chapter 13: Making Mistakes**

 James Potter pulled away from the brunette Hufflepuff that was currently sucking on his bottom lip.  He felt a rush of nervous energy, the muscles in his stomach tightening.  Not so discreetly, he checked his watch.

            7:20.

            “You in a rush, baby?” she purred, and James fought the urge to roll his eyes.  It was all far too forced for his liking.

            “Yeah, I suppose.  Gotta dash.  Lovely, erhm, doing business with you, though, umm….”

            “-Melinda,” the girl said shortly.

            “Er, right, Melinda.  Have a nice holiday,” James said meekly, knowing he sounded especially lame.

            But he really didn’t care.  The Snogging Game was over.  Remus had snogged his last girl approximately two hours ago.  James had then rushed to finish his end of it.

            He had no idea when the girls finished, or if they had at all.

            But James had a strong feeling that it would literally come down to the last minute of the very last snog.

            Running a hand through his hair, he stood up.  He followed Melinda’s retreating back down the astronomy tower, his heart pounding.  He needed to get back to the boy’s dormitory to find out how they finished.  After all, four years of waiting had led up to this exact moment.

~*~

            Remus looked grim as James entered the room.

            “Well?” James asked tersely.

            “Prongs, I’m sorry.”

            “You mean, we…”

            “We lost,” Sirius said blankly.  “They wrapped up their final snogs at 7:12.  You didn’t finish yours until-“

            “-7:20.  Shit!” James said, throwing his cloak on his bed.  “Four years of waiting, for this!  It’s over, isn’t it?  It’s really, really over?”

            “Prongs-“ Remus started, looking concerned.  The smile had  vanished from James’ eyes.  He looked haggard and desperate, a combination of things Remus knew couldn’t be good.  He had never seen James look so…defeated.

            “How could have this happened?” Sirius asked.  “We had it locked in.  We’re the Marauders after all, aren’t we?”

            “Yeah, but Evans is…a whole different breed,” James said, hanging his head.  “We underestimated her.  Cortez and Owens too.  I guess I thought I’d be able to charm her into defeat.”

            “You nearly did.  Merlin, we were so sure we had them.  Owens and Cortez were this close to striking a deal to surrender to us,” Remus said, holding his thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart.  “But they double-crossed us, I guess.”

            The Marauders sat in silence for a moment, in heavy disbelief.  Never had they faced defeat before.  None could believe the cold, hard truth.

            But then…

            “Wait a sec!” Peter exclaimed, eyes widening.  “Look!  Look at the time of Adella’s last snog!”

            Immediately, Remus and Sirius rushed over to the parchment, blood rushing to their heads.

            They stood in disbelief.  Sirius let out a hoot of exhilaration.  Remus burst into laughter.

            “Prongs!  You’ll never believe this!  She messed up!  I don’t believe it!  She just handed us the victory!”

            James rushed over to the parchment, hardly believing his ears.

            And sure enough, there it was.

            In bold print, next to the time of 7:02 the parchment read:

            **Adella Cortez, with Colin Young, at the Purple Lotus.**

**Length of Snog: 6 minutes and 51 seconds.**

            Adella’s final snog was short by nine seconds.

            Which meant of course, that it was invalid.

            As though the parchment could read their minds, it started flashing in blue writing on the boy’s side of the parchment  “MALES WIN!”

~*~

            “Shhhh!” Lily hushed the other girls, all three nearly collapsing with giggles.  Their night of binge drinking at the Purple Lotus was still having its effects on them, and it would not due for the Head Girl and her best friends to be caught completely drunk, wandering through the halls of Hogwarts an hour past curfew.

            “Oh Lilikins!  Just think!  You will look so lovely in June for your June wedding!” Cassandra crooned, turning her drunken phrase into a song.

            “Oh yes! And we will be bridesmaids!” Adella said, eyes widening with excitement.

            “But who am I marrying in June?” Lily asked, completely confused at what the pair was talking about.

            Both started giggling wildly, almost annoying Lily, before she brushed it off and joined in the laughter.

            “I’ll marry Snape in June!  That’s who I’ll marry!”

            “And in August, Cassie will marry Gavin!” Adella yelled, earning a “Be quiet, young lady!” from a nearby portrait.  She bowed to it, a bit too deeply, and promptly fell on her head, causing Lily and Cassandra to both collapse in laughter.

            “Della just fell down on her head!” Lily said, pointing at Adella, tears streaming down her face. 

            Clumsily, they pulled themselves to their feet, seeming to realize that they needed to keep on the move back to the Gryffindor tower.  They were surely getting closer, but the exact direction seemed a bit fuzzy to them in their present state.

            “We need to go to the library, I think!” Cassandra exclaimed, certain that this was the best idea possible.  “Then we can find Remus and he will tell us where to go!”

            “Remus won’t be in the library right now!  It’s one o’clock in the morning!” Lily said, making a right at the end of the hallway.

            “Come on, it’s this way, I’m sure of it!”

            The three continued down the hallway, immensely relieved to see the Portrait of the Fat Lady awaiting them at the end.

            “Gingerbread!” Adella squeaked, her voice obnoxiously high.

            “What in the name of heaven are you three doing?” The Fat Lady asked crossly.  “Why if I didn’t know Miss Evans better, I’d say I think you three are drunk!”

            This caused a fresh wave of giggles to surface, followed by the portrait’s angry opening. 

            “This better not happen again, you lot!”

            The three girls only laughed harder, falling through the hole into a messy heap.

            “Did you see her face?” Cassandra asked, making a mock-angry face.  “She looked so serious!”

            “Sirius!” Adella yelled, suddenly remembering she had missed their tutoring session.  “I need to go tell him that I missed tutoring!”

            “He knows already, Adella!  He probably figured it out when you didn’t show up!” Cassandra called, but Adella was already up the stairs to the boy’s dormitory, Lily and Cassandra in tow.

            “We should knock, don’t you think?” Lily asked, trying to whisper, but her voice still quite loud.

            “It’d be the polite thing to do,” Cassandra added.

            Adella however, did not see things quite that way.  Instead, she turned the door knob, leaning on the door as it slowly opened to reveal four sleeping Marauders.

            “Lumos!” Lily mock-whispered, mistaking her lipstick for her wand. When it didn’t immediately illuminate, she chucked it on the floor, causing Cassandra to burst into laughter again.

            “Which one is Sirius’ bed?” Lily asked, suddenly very aware that the boys were beginning to stir.

            “He’s right here!” Adella called out, promptly jumping on the bed.  “Sirius it’s Adella, wake up already, wouldja?”

            “What in the name of Merlin is going on?” Remus asked from a bed over.  His eyes were heavy with sleep, and although he was a bit groggy, there was really no mistaking the scene before him.

            Finally awake, Sirius seemed to share his same confusion.

            “Adella, what’s going on?” he asked.  He sat up, revealing a naked torso which caused Adella to very poorly fight the urge to admire.

            “I missed tutoring!” she squeaked, kicking off her shoes and joining him under the covers.  “I just wanted you to know that.”

            By this point, all four boys were very much awake, and it was beginning to dawn on them that their female counterparts were slightly…

            “You lot are hammered, aren’t you?” asked Peter, who had finally drawn back his bed curtains.

            “I’d say so,” Remus agreed, taking note that Lily was trying on one of Peter’s robes while Cassandra seemed to be folding James’ dirty socks.

            “James, get your girlfriend and her mates out of here,” Peter said, quite irritably.  He was not a fan of having his sleep cycle interrupted, especially by the drunk antics of the Gryffindor girls.

            “She’s not his girlfriend!” Cassandra exclaimed, getting highly offended at Peter’s statement.

            “Well, actually, funny you should mention that…” Sirius started, trailing off.  He was quite uncertain how to broach the announcement that it had been through Adella’s error that allowed the boys to steal the victory.

            “It seems that you girls lost The Snogging Game,” James said, speaking for the first time.  He looked expectantly at Lily completely unsure of what her reaction would be.

            The announcement was followed by a heavy silence, in which all three girls felt themselves sobering.  Nothing seemed quite so funny anymore.

            “How-“ Lily started, panic beginning to surge through her veins.

            “It really doesn’t matter how-“ Sirius said, trying to protect Adella.  Lily would surely murder her best friend for this caustic error.

            “No really, what time did you lot get your last snog?” Adella said, struggling out of Sirius’ bed to join Lily and Cassandra in the middle of the room.

            “We got ours at 7:12,” Cassandra said matter of factly, looking at all four boys accusingly.

            “James’ last snog was at 7:20,” Peter said quietly.

            “But then-“ Lily started, feeling indignant.

            “There was a mistake,” James said, looking pointedly at Lily.

            “What kind of mistake?” Adella cried, feeling cheated.  “What, did one of us suddenly forget how to snog or something?  Cut the crap, let me see the parchment!”

            “You really don’t want to,” Sirius said quietly.  “Just trust us, there was a mistake that gave us the win by default.”

            “Screw that!  _Accio Parchment!”_ Cassandra yelled, despite the boys’ protests.  The parchment flew toward her, and she caught it effortlessly.  It was still flashing “MALES WIN!” ostentatiously.

            “Oh my god,” Lily said, a sure sign that she had already spotted the error.  “Adella…”

            “What?  I got my fifty snogs!”

            “No dear, you didn’t,” Cassandra said, pointing to the length of her last snog.  “You were nine seconds away from getting fifty snogs.”

            The silence that followed the statement was like a ton of bricks.  All six pairs of eyes went to Adella, whose face seemed to lose every ounce of color.

            “Lily-“

            “Don’t.”

            “But Lils-“

            “Adella, how many times did we stress going longer than you thought was necessary?  How many times?”

            “Lily, I’m sorry-“

            “You handed them the game!  We had it!  Technically, we did win!  But no, because you got cocky, I’m facing a sentence worse than death!”

            “A sentence worse than death?  WHO ARE YOU JOKING?” Adella yelled, her voice reaching a decibel level Lily hadn’t known it could reach.  “You were dying for this to happen, Lils.  It’s so obvious that you are bloody in love with Potter!  Face it!  You’re thrilled this happened, because now you get to spend the next month and a half being his girlfriend!  So don’t get angry at me!  Hell, I did you the biggest favor of your life!”

            “I cannot believe you!” Lily screamed back.  “Screw you, Cortez!”

            “Right back at you!” Adella bellowed.

            Lily then stormed out of the room, leaving a furious Adella and a startled Cassandra and the Marauders in her wake.

            “Dell-“ Cassandra started.

            “Yeah, go with her!” Adella snapped, and Cassandra scurried out the door.

            Another pregnant silence ensured, the only noise coming from Adella’s heavy breaths.

            Having seemed to gathered her composure, finally she spoke.

            “So it appears I need somewhere to sleep tonight,” she said, looking directly at Sirius.

            Without speaking, he made room for her in his bed.

            “Goodnight,” she said, drawing back the curtains and the four boys took it as their cue to extinguish the lights and return to sleep.

            


	14. Tidings of Comfort, but Certainly Not Joy

**Author's Note:** I realize it has been RIDICULOUSLY long since i've updated.  i have no excuses...but i do feel very, very bad.  Good news, i have a part time job that lends itself to me doing absoloutely nothing for hours and hours at a time, so there is a good chance i'll be better at updates.  I want to say, that we're getting closer and closer to the end, and i'll stick with this fic until the bitter end--it's my baby, after all:) So enjoy, and i'm really going to make an effort to update again quickly.

**The people you've touched**

**The way you've touched them**

**I hope they've touched you too**

**'Cause in this life,It's hard to tell**

**What is false and what is true**

**We're all on the ground**

**Just crying out**

**Would somebody save me please**

**I won't sit around just thinking about**

**The troubles that tommorrow brings**

**I'm dying to be alive, yeah**

**Not trying to just survive, yeah**

**Lets not go through our lives**

**without just dying to be alive**

_Hanson_ (haha yes, "mmbop" hanson), _"Dying to be Alive"  
_     

 

**Chapter Fourteen:** Tidings of Comfort, but Certainly Not Joy

  It was probably for the best, for everyone involved, that the Christmas holiday was a mere three days away after the abrupt end to the game. Adella had no way of broaching the subject with Lily, to try to explain that she had not, under any circumstances, thrown the game for the girls.  She really did take Lily’s word as final, and when Lily proclaimed she had no feelings for James and wanted nothing to do with him, Adella hadn’t necessarily believed her, but she had respected her friend’s intention.  However, the problem remained that Lily, and to a certain degree, Cassandra, were both suspicious of Adella’s too short snog, both certain Adella had done it on purpose.

            The Marauders, specifically James, now regarded Adella as an unofficial addition to their gang.  While she had always been friendly with the boys, with the exception of Sirius, this more or less cemented her status, as Peter, Remus, and Sirius had all been aware of her part in conniving to get Lily and James together, so they naturally assumed the short snog had been done on purpose.  Furthermore, Adella was now currently rooming with the Marauders; she had been sharing Sirius’ bed since that fateful night, and while the two vehemently swore there were no nocturnal activities beyond Sirius’ snoring, they both seemed far to comfortable with the arrangement for there to be nothing going on behind the curtains.

            Adella desperately wanted to make amends with her best mates, but she seemed entirely unsure as to how to go about it.  She knew, with time, Lily would forgive her; it was an undisputed fact of their friendship.  Adella secretly believed that Lily wanted things to turn out the way that they did, but was far too proud to admit it.  She was sure, as she had always been, that Lily would fall head over heals for James in the ensuing month and a half, and would thank her profusely for messing up.

            Unfortunately, Lily didn’t seem willing to speak to anyone in Gryffindor, with the exception of Cassandra.  James had won, but the result, at least thus far, was as if Lily had.  James seemed unsure how to claim his “prize,” and since it was Adella whom he would have gone to in this sort of situation, and she was having as little luck speaking to Lily as he was, he was utterly confused.

            Then, of course, there was a logistics question.  Since there was a three-week lull in school, and therefore, time when Lily and James would be able to see one another, did Christmas break count in the month and a half forced duration of their relationship?  Adella and the Marauders had spent countless hours debating this issue, with no result.  The only thing that really came out of these heated debates was James passionately exclaiming that the holiday break absolutely did not count, and Remus calmly turning to Adella saying “You need to talk to her and figure it out, before Saturday morning.”

            It was Friday night before Adella mustered the courage, and that was mainly because she knew she had to do something; both Lily and Cassandra were to come home with her for the holidays, Cassandra because her parents were in France, and Lily because her parents and sister were staying with Petunia’s fiancé’s family for Christmas, making Adella’s home the most favorable alternative.  Adella wasn’t sure if the girls were coming any more, but she sincerely hoped they would; while her family was far from the crazed, Voldemort supporting inbreeds that most pureblooded families of their society were, she found her parents too proper and quite boring, and the girls were a perfect respite to an otherwise unbearable holiday. 

            Therefore, Adella swallowed her own pride, and grudgingly, with the encouragement from the Marauders, climbed the now almost unfamiliar stairs to the girls’ dormitory, hesitating before knocking on the door.

            It took her a moment to realize how ridiculous it was for her to knock, she lived there, after all, and faking confidence and calling on her Gryffindor bravery, she swung the door open.

            The scene that greeted her was not unfamiliar at all; in fact, it was as though she had never left.  Lily and Cassandra were sprawled on Lily’s bed, pouring over magazines and painting their nails.  Adella noticed, to her extreme shock, that not only were they both packed, but that it appeared that her stuff was packed too.

            “Um, hi,” she said, tentatively, now aware they were staring at her expectantly.

            “Adella, hey,” Cassandra said, smiling genuinely.  “We were wondering when you’d come.  We packed for you,” she said, pointing to Adella trunk.

            “Yeah, thanks, I really appreciate it,” Adella said, her voice shaking slightly.  “Lily-“

            “It’s okay, Dell, I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Lily said.  “I was emotional and angry, and I know you would never betray me.”

            “It really was just an honest mistake,” Adella said earnestly.  “I swear, that bloke really was just that bad, because that snog felt like it would never end.”

            Lily laughed, looking slightly sheepish.  “I’ve been a bit of a bitch, I realize, about this entire ordeal.”

            “Kind of,” Adella and Cassandra answered in unison, causing all three girls to smile a bit.

            “But I’m not without fault too, you know,” Adella said.

            “The same goes for me,” Cassandra added as well.

            “But it’s over now,” Lily said.  “We can go back to being best friends, not teammates in taking down the Marauders, which by the way, we so did!  James won on a technicality, after all.”

            “That reminds me, I’m supposed to propose waiting until after the Christmas holidays to begin your ‘relationship,’” Adella said, using finger-quotes around the word relationship.

            “That make sense to me,” Cassandra added off-handedly.  “It would only be fair.”

            “Urgh, I suppose that’s fine.  I have gone three days without so much as looking at him, and I guess he does deserve better if he won.”

            “Good, that’s settled then,” Adella, said.  “I’ll let him know when I go up to collect my things.”

            She had meant to pass the comment off without really bringing attention to the fact that she hadn’t been sleeping in the girl’s dorm the past three nights, but Lily wasn’t Head Girl for naught.

            “Della, have you been sleeping in the boy’s dorm the past three nights?”

            When she didn’t immediately answer, Lily and Cassandra pounced.

            “Adella Antonia Cortez, you have not been sleeping in the boy’s dorm!” Cassandra shrieked, throwing a pillow at Adella.

            “Well, actually, I have,” came her response, giving them a sly smile.  “I’ve been sharing a bed with Sirius-but we’re not shagging, I swear!”

            This produced laughs from both girls, Lily yelling out that she had suspected it all along. 

            “Well you lot weren’t speaking to me, so what choice did I have?” Adella asked, laughing as she spoke.

            “We would’ve taken you back the next night; we were just waiting for you to swallow your pride.  We were going to come find you tonight if you hadn’t beaten us to it,” Lily said, hugging her best friend.  “We’ve missed you.”

            “I’ve missed you both so much,” Adella said somberly.   “Boy roommates are not all they’re cracked up to be.”

            “Everything’s going to be okay now,” Cassandra said, reassuringly.  “Our little trio is back intact, and if we can survive this, we can survive anything.”

            Looking at her two best friends, Lily had never been so certain of anything in her entire life.

~*~

            James Potter paced nervously around their compartment on the train the next morning.  He had barely slept last night, contemplating his next move.  He had won a month and a half of Lily Evans, and he was determined he would not screw up.  He examined the package in his had, unsure if he really wanted to do this.  He was afraid it was overkill, or that she’d laugh it off as another pathetic attempt of his to win her heart.

            “Prongs, mate, knock it off,” Sirius said, growing tired of James’ pacing.  Sirius had been in a foul mood since Adella had returned the night before to collect her things and tell them that she was sleeping in her own dorm from now on and also to deliver the message that Lily was agreeable to wait until after the holiday to start their courtship.  Sirius had tried to convince Adella to stay one more night, but she had merely laughed it off and left.

            “Someone’s grumpy this morning,” Peter commented, earning him a glare from Sirius.

            “No, I’ve just had enough of James’ incessant trips to the door of the compartment just to have him sit down again and fiddle with Evan’s present.”

            “I just don’t know if I should give it to her or not,” James said, looking desperately at his best mates for guidance.

            “Just give it to her, Prongs,” Moony said encouragingly.  “You’ve already spent the money, what else are you going to do with it?”

            “Re-gift it, and give it to his mum,” Sirius said, snorting.  “That’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes.”

            “No, you’d merely use it as a way to get a girl to sleep with you,” Peter said, this time earning himself a punch on the arm.

            “I don’t need to bribe a girl into sleeping with me-“

            “Unless said girl’s name is Adella Cortez,” James added, laughing at Sirius’ obvious misery.

            “Fine, then go give Evans her present,” Sirius said curtly.  “And while you’re there, give her your manhood as well, because I’m giving it four days after the Holidays until she has you completely whipped.”

            Rolling his eyes at Sirius, James did follow his advice, except for that last part, and wandered down the train to the compartment the girls typically claimed as their own.

            He slid the door open, revealing the girls smoking cigarettes and gossiping casually.  They looked startled when he appeared before them, Cassandra immediately putting her cigarette out, while Adella choked mid-drag.

            “Can I have a word, Lily?” he said, hoping he didn’t squeak.

            “Of course,” she said, closing the door behind her.

            She sent him a puzzled look, but smiled nonetheless, sending his heart to do a series of back flips.

            “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk lately,” James said, not meeting her eye as he spoke.

            “Well, that’s been mainly my fault, you know,” Lily admitted, blushing slightly.

            “Right, erm, well, I guess we’re going out, I mean starting after the new term, and I just wanted you to know-“

            “James, it’s okay, you won, fair and square, I’ll play by your rules.  I’ll play the part well, I promise-“

            James smiled, and now it was Lily’s heart’s turn to do a series of back flips.  “I hope you’re not dreading this too much,” he said, watching her blush a bit more.

            “Actually, I’m not dreading it nearly as much as I thought I would,” she answered, showing him a moment of vulnerability he very rarely saw from her.  Sensing she had softened, perhaps more than she felt was wise to do so, she quickly covered it up with a “but it’s probably just because I’ve still got three weeks before this all starts.”

            “Whatever you say, Lily,” James said, his smile never breaking.  She was at least a little excited about the arrangement, which gave him far more hope than he dared to admit.

            “Here, I got you a Christmas present,” he said, holding out a small package, wrapped in gold paper.  “I mean, not that anything beats the knowledge that you will soon be my girlfriend but it made me think of you, that’s all.”

            This time, when she smiled at him, he saw a glint in her eye he had never seen before, causing him to blush even further.

            “Well, Happy Christmas, Lily.  And get ready, because when we come back from break, you’re in for the ride of your life.”             “Happy Christmas, James,” she said softly, unable to take her eyes off the package in her hands.

            He turned to go, but as he left, he sneaked one last glance at her, standing outside the compartment, smile a mile wide, and hugging his present to her chest.

            Years later, he would admit to her that was the first moment he truly knew he was in love with her, because that was the first moment he realized she was falling in love with him too.

            Lily, for her part, tore into the present after he had left, revealing a gold locket with an emerald encrusted “L” on the front.  It was not gaudy, but rather, elegant and simple, much like her own style.  Head buzzing with so many thoughts, she quickly pocketed the locket, ignoring the feeling of pure elation coursing through her entire body.  

            “Damn,” she swore, rubbing her temples.  “I really can’t believe this is happening.”

            It was a sentiment she would repeat countless times in the ensuing month and a half.

~*~

            The Christmas break made the student population of Hogwarts conscientious of many things.  Society was taking a drastic turn for the worse, as there were more and more sudden deaths and disappearances, not to mention the fact that muggle killing was becoming a sport.  Hogwarts had allowed them to remain naïve about how awful the situation of the real world was, but once getting off the Hogwarts Express, it was clear the magical world was under enormous amounts of stress.

            James noticed it immediately, as there was none of the jolly, holiday atmosphere that so commonly accompanied Platform 9 ¾ this time of the year.  Parents stood just as divided as the children, with those families supporting Dumbledore whispering amongst themselves on one side of the platform, leaving the families of what would eventually become a generation of Death Eaters on the other.  There was something undeniably sinister in the atmosphere, and James could not help but noticing a Ministry employee, holding a slight stack of envelopes, waiting to deliver news to students getting off the train that they had no where to go; their families had been killed or had disappeared overnight.

            “This is wrong,” Sirius murmured next to him, apparently also taking note of the drastic change to the platform.  “Did you read _The Prophet_ this morning?”

            “No,” James admitted.  “You?”

            “Just the headlines,” came Sirius’ distracted response.

            “There was a massive raid last night,” Remus told them, coming up behind them, struggling with his trunk.  “Twenty families killed and another seven disappeared.”

            “Damn it,” James swore.  “It isn’t right.”

            “Have they released names yet?” Sirius asked.

            “Not yet, but probably soon, once the children have all been informed.”

            Before their eyes, they saw this informing of the children, as the ministry official began handing out letters, the shock evident on the faces of the students receiving the bad news.

            “Happy Christmas, eh?” Remus said dryly.

            “Really, just look at them,” Sirius said, motioning to the group of families who had already made their allegiance to Voldemort known.  “Do you think they even realize that they’ve just crushed some poor kid’s entire world?”

            “Do you think they even care?” James said.  “C’mon, let’s get out of here.  I can’t stand just sitting by watching.  We’re supposed to Floo back to my house.”

            Clapping Remus on the back, James wished him a Happy Christmas.

            “You’re coming over next week, right?” 

            “Supposed to, but Mum might want to keep me home, you know with the you know what only being a few days away.”

            “We’ll kidnap you if she won’t let you leave,” Sirius informed him, his eyes never leaving the corner of the platform where he saw him own mother and aunt gathering with his family.

            “James-“ he started, as the pair began to walk away.

            “Yeah, mate?”

            “I don’t think I’ve said thank you enough for helping me escape all that,” came his response, motioning to his family.

            James merely clapped him on the back, shaking his head.

            “You got out, Padfoot.  That’s all that matters.”

            “Thank Merlin.”

            With that, they flooed back to the Potter manor, with all the wonder of Christmas awaiting them.

            The Potters, were, like the Blacks, a pureblooded family, but one that was considered highly liberal.  Mr. and Mrs. Potter were big supporters of Dumbledore, and had an unfailing sense of right and wrong that they had instilled in James since before he could walk.  While Sirius had been raised in an icy atmosphere that thrived on manipulation and secrecy, the Potter household was bursting with warmth and family, often making friends wonder why they had only had one child.

            Christmas brought out the best in the Potter manor, as Mrs. Potter went all out.  Each room was marvelously decorated with massive Christmas trees, the scent of pine and gingerbread permeating throughout the house.  Each room had a different décor, always a surprise for James, and now Sirius, upon their return from Hogwarts.

            This year was no different, for even as the world took a drastic turn for the worse, Mrs. Potter seemed more determined than ever to fill the house with hope and warmth.  They boys arrived, emerging from the massive fireplace into the main living room, which was already adorned with four stockings.

            “Mum, we’re home!” James called, struggling to pull his belongings from the fireplace before Sirius appeared.

            “Jamie!  Look at you, you’ve gotten even taller!” His mother exclaimed, scurrying from the kitchen, hands covered with flour; evidently, she had been baking.

            Mrs. Aleysa Potter, now in her early fifties, still maintained her youthful glow, and possessed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes that James had become notorious for.  She had once been extremely beautiful, with long chestnut hair, which she now wore at her collarbone.  Her hair was not graying, but did have a handful of silver streaks.  James may have been the spitting image of his father, but it was from his mother he had earned his taste for trouble, and hence forth, the two were very similar in their mannerisms.

            Sirius appeared a moment later, causing more shouts of jubilation.  Aleysa had always had a soft spot for Sirius, despite the trouble he and her son seemed to get into.

            “Term ended well for you both?” she asked good naturedly, flicking her wand to levitate both sets of trunks upstairs.

            “Well enough,” James answered, hoping Sirius would not inform his mother about their extracurricular activities.

            “I got surprisingly few letters from Dumbledore telling me you’ve been a menace to society,” Aleysa said, smiling at them.  “That Head Boy badge has shaped you both up a bit, then?”

            “It just means we’re harder to catch,” Sirius interjected, shooting her the smile that made so many girls’ hearts melt.

            This produced a hearty chuckle from James’ mother, and she pulled both boys in for a hug.

            “Oh, I’ve missed you two.  Your dad’s been working long hours, especially lately-“

            “It’s getting bad, isn’t it?” Sirius asked, turning somber for a moment.

            “Yes, it is,” came the response.  It was not Aleysa Potter’s style to sugar coat things for her children.

            “The raid-“

            “Awful, truly despicable.  So many children’s families were killed.  Your dad’s been at the hospital since ten last night.”

            Daniel Potter, a respected Healer at St. Mungo’s would be one to volunteer for extra shifts, especially in such a crisis.  That was the drawback to his sense of responsibility; he was often absent from James’ life.

            “Actually, I’m surprised at how composed you both are,” continued his mum, looking puzzled.  “I thought Cassandra Owens was a good friend of yours.”

            “What-“

            “Her father was among those who have disappeared.  He left the Ministry last night at around six, but never made it home.”

            James felt his heart drop, and he immediately cast a forlorn look at Sirius.

            “She’s staying with the Cortez’s right?”

            “Yeah, Adella told me that was the plan.”

            “Mum-“

            “Go! By all means, go be with your friend…she’ll need support.  And here, take a plate of cookies too!”

            Sirius grabbed their cloaks, and James grabbed the cookies, feeling slightly ridiculous.  Thankfully, the Cortez manor was just down the road from their own, and as James and Sirius ran down the street toward the white brick mansion, James couldn’t help but wonder if this was just going to be the first of many devastating blows that felt so close to home.

~*~

            Lily hadn’t known what to do when a ministry official approached them at King’s Cross station, the three girls laughing as the got off.  They didn’t see, or chose to ignore, the tension from the platform.  Instead, they happily got off the train, and had tried to make a beeline for the fireplace to floo back to Adella’s home.

            They had been cut off.

            “Cassandra Owens?” a voice cut across their happiness, hitting the girls full-force.          

            “That’s me,” said Cassandra, grey eyes narrowing unsurely.

            “I’m from the ministry.  I have an official notice for you.”

            With that, he handed her an envelope with the official ministry seal.  Lily heard Adella swear next to her, but didn’t question what seemed to be the problem.  Instead, she was Cassandra visibly pale, hands shaking slightly as she tore open the envelope.

            “You don’t know that it automatically means what you think it does, Cass,” Adella had said, voice wavering.

            Cassandra didn’t answer, instead, dropping the letter onto the marble floor of the train station.

            “My dad-“

            She never finished the sentence.  Immediately, her knees buckled, and Lily automatically allowed her instincts to take over.  She grabbed Cassandra before she hit the floor, struggling with the dead weight.

            “Just had a bit of a shock, that’s all,” Adella said, helping Lily to support their friend.  “We need to revive her before we can floo home.”

            “Dell, what did that letter say?  Is her dad dead?” Lily asked, not familiar with ministry procedures.

            “Either that or disappeared.  You’re better at charms, you should awaken her.”

            Lily quickly pulled out her wand and used the appropriate spell to awaken Cassandra.  She seemed confused at first, but then, it seemed as though everything came reeling back.

            “I need to get out of here-“she said, voice sounding panicked.

            “I know, can you floo home? Or do you want us to arrange for a portkey?” Lily asked, allowing her maternal side to take over.             “I can floo.”

            “Alright, Dell you go first, tell whoever’s at your house we’re on our way and Cassandra needs some tea.”

            “Will do,” Adella answered, disappearing into the fireplace.

            “It’s going to be okay,” Lily told her, although she was quite unsure how she could promise Cassandra anything of the sort.

            “Lily, they don’t even know if he’s dead.  He just…disappeared.”

            Lily knew enough to know that he was probably being tortured beyond recognition, and would be dead very soon.  She didn’t voice this opinion, although it seemed as though that same idea had already registered in Cassandra’s mind.

            “C’mon, let’s get you out of here,” she said, putting a supportive arm around Cassandra.

            She heard classmates calling “happy Christmas” to the pair of them as they entered the fireplace to floo to Adella’s.  

            “Happy Christmas, indeed,” Lily muttered dryly, knowing she was about to encounter one of the worst so far of her seventeen years.

~*~

            Unlike the Potter residence, the Cortez family had very few Christmas decorations up.  Due to Lenina Cortez’s dislike for all things cold, she and her husband, Nico, spent very little time in England, preferring the warmer climates of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.  Therefore, Mrs. Cortez resented Adella to a certain extent, as it was her arrival that forced the family to return to England, even if it was just for three weeks.  Usually, the family traveled over the holidays, but Nico and Adella’s brother, Dino, had been traveling incessantly over the past six to eight months, causing him to make the executive decision that the family would remain at their official residence in England; his decision, however, did not change the fact that Lenina did not return until a mere two hours before her daughter did.

            The house was a very traditional mansion.  Dramatic staircases, giant fireplaces, high ceilings, and all things expensive and rich.  The décor screamed, “We have old money,” and if the mere design of the house did not give that away, then the numerous portraits of Cortez family relatives in Nico’s often empty study did.  The Cortez family had, apparently, been Portuguese royalty at some point or another, and that money, combined with the fortune that Nico’s business endeavors brought in, allowed the family to enjoy the kind of lifestyle that even the Blacks and Malfoys could scarcely obtain.

            Adella arrived in the great hall, yelling out to her mother as soon as she entered.

            “Mum! I’m home!  Lily and Cassandra are about to arrive and-“

            “Adella, don’t yell.  It’s hardly fitting for you to make such a racket,” Came Lenina’s reply, appearing in the hallway in all of her grandeur.  One look at Lenina made it clear where Adella had gotten her beauty.  She shared nearly all of Adella’s features, with the exception of her daughter’s height, which she swore must have came from Nico’s side, despite the fact that Adella’s father was nearly six foot four.

            “Mum, Cassandra’s dad-“

            “Adella, dear, please come greet me properly before you start carrying on,”  her mother said again, her tone icy.

            “Jesus Christ, mother!  This is no time for manners.  Tell the house elves to get some tea ready!  Cassandra’s dad either died or disappeared last night!”

            “Cassandra, is that the one with the red hair, or the brown hair?” Lenina asked, still not motivated enough to listen to her daughter.

            “Urgh, not that it matters, but brown. Now really, Mother-”

            “Oh, I rather like her.  She’s a bit calmer than the other one.”

            “Mum!”

            “Oh, all right.  Tibby!” She screeched, and immediately a house elf appeared.

            “Yes, mistress?”

            “Get some tea ready for Adella’s friends.  And some cake too!  Then tell the rest to get busy decorating, since apparently my husband wants decorations, too.”

            With that the house elf retreated, and thankfully, Adella was spared another moment alone with her mother by Lily and Cassandra’s entrance.

            Adella immediately rushed toward them, helping Lily with Cassandra, who seemed to be struggling again.

            “She needs to lie down, it’s all a bit much for her right now,” Lily  said, inclining her head to Mrs. Cortez.  “Hello, Mrs. Cortez.”

            “Hello, dear.  I’ll levitate her upstairs,” Lenina offered, helpfully.

            “That’d be great, thanks.”

            Lily and Adella followed behind, whispering amongst themselves.

            “Did she tell you?” Adella asked, referring to the contents of the letter.

            “Yeah, he’s disappeared, but you know that’s almost worse than dead.”

            “God damn it.  How can anyone support that maniac?” Adella said, temper flaring.  “Mr. Owens was such a good guy.”

            “Buck up, dear, we’re going to need to be strong for Cass.  We need to know where her mum is.  Cass said that she’s already in Paris, so who knows if she even knows yet.  I guess we should start by contacting her.”

            “Let me handle that,” came Lenina’s response from in front of them.  “By the way, Adella, I’ll have to ask you to refrain from cursing again.  Tragedy or no tragedy, it’s not becoming.”

            Adella rolled her eyes toward Lily, producing small smile from Lily, despite all of the stress.

            “We’re in for an unbearably long holiday, you do realize that, right?” Adella asked, running a hand through her hair.

            “Trust me, anything’s favorable to the Dursleys.” 


End file.
